


Becoming a Winchester

by WaywardDaughter18



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Changeling - Freeform, Character Death, Corporal Punishment, Daddy Dean, Death of parent, Demons, Discipline, Family, Family Relationships - Freeform, Gen, Grandpa John, Grieving, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Mouth-Soaping, Non-Consensual Spanking, Paddling, Parent-Child Relationship, Psychic Abilities, Spanking, Uncle Sam, Werewolf, Yellow-Eyed Demon - Freeform, shape shifter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-18 21:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 95
Words: 421,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11882763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaywardDaughter18/pseuds/WaywardDaughter18
Summary: It's always been Charlotte and her mom, for as long as she can remember. One day her mom introduces her to her father, a man named Dean Winchester. When tragedy strikes, Charlotte's whole world is turned upside down, and she has to learn how to be part of a new family. This is an AU with some canon. A Daddy!Dean fic, with disciplinary spanking.





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

My mom had a bad sickness. It was something that had gotten into her bones and organs, and she had to take lots of medicines and go to a doctor's office and get treatments that lasted all day. The treatments made her really tired, and she would come home and sleep a lot. She had lost a lot of weight, and then lost her hair, and not been able to eat.   
At first, people from her work, and some people from a local church, had come around and brought us food and stuff. A couple of times people came in and cleaned our apartment, and they took her to her appointments a lot, but it had been months and months now and I guess people were tired of dealing with it. A couple people from Mom's work still came by every once in a while. Mom was a little better, but she still got tired easily, and still needed to rest a lot.   
But she had gone back to the doctor last week for a check up and then told me that the treatments weren't working any more. The doctors wanted to try a different treatment, but it would be harder on her body. She said the sickness was back, and they needed to get things under control. Sometimes when she was really sick, I would stay with a friend of the family, who I called my aunt, although she really wasn't. Mom had told me that there was someone she wanted me to meet before we decided on where I was going to go.

 

My mom stood at the door of the play area. “Charlotte,” she called, “Come here, I want you to meet someone.” 

“Aw, do I have to?” I complained. I was running around the top part of the play area of the McDonald's with a couple other kids.

“Yes,” she said, “You can come back and play in a few minutes.” 

I looked at her and saw the dark circles under her eyes and how tired she looked, and felt guilty for complaining. I grabbed my shoes and followed her out.

There was a man sitting at the table, in the spot where I had been sitting, across from my mom. She sat down and I stood awkwardly next to her. I leaned over and put one of my shoes on.

“Charlotte, this is Dean Winchester. He's your father.” 

I had been focused on pushing the heel of my shoe up over my sock, but at the word 'father', I stood up straight and looked over at him. My father?

“Hi Charlotte,” he said in a deep voice. He had short light brown hair and green eyes and a little bit of stubble on his chin. He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket with a red plaid shirt.

“Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling shy. 

“Sit down for a minute,” Mom scooted her chair in. I walked around her and sat down next to her, putting my shoe on the table.

“Don't do that,” she picked my shoe up.

I took it from her, leaned over, and slid it onto my foot.

“I wanted you to meet your father, because you're going to stay with him from time to time now, once I start this next round of treatments.”

I looked at her in surprise. “I am? But- but I want to stay with you!”

“I know, but I don't think that's going to be feasible. I'm – I'm going to need a lot more rest,” She looked uncomfortable. 

“Can't I stay with Aunt Janice again?”

Mom shook her head. “No, I want you to stay with your father. You need to get to know him.”

I sighed. “O—kay,” I leaned across the table, picked up my cup from where it was sitting in front of Dean Winchester, and took a drink. “Can I go play now?”

“No, Charlotte, I want you to stay and talk to your father. Tell him about yourself.”

I frowned. “Why?”

“I'd like to get to know you a little bit, Charlotte,” Dean Winchester said, looking at me. I noticed that his eyes were very green.

“Okay,” I said, “My name is Charlotte Winchester, I'm eight years old, I like music and to read and draw, I love the Harry Potter books and movies, and I'm going into third grade. Now can I go play?”

He laughed. “Well, that was concise.” 

“Lottie, don't be rude,” Mom admonished.

“I'm not!” I protested, “What else do you want me to say?”

“Let her go, Liz,” Dean Winchester said, “There will be time to talk later.”

“Fine,“ Mom said. She rubbed her forehead, “We're not going to be staying for too much longer, all right? I need to go home and rest.”   
“Okay,” I said, and I got up and ran back into the play area.

All too soon, Mom appeared at the door. “Charlotte, let's go,” she called. 

I was on the top of the play area again and I pretended I didn't hear her. She walked into the room. 

“Charlotte, I said let's go,” she called louder. After a minute, I went down the slide. “Did you hear me?” she asked, and she was irritated.

“I couldn't hear you!” I protested, “It's too loud in here!” 

She looked at me, and then I saw that Dean Winchester was behind her. Wow, was he tall! He was looking at me too, and I could tell by the look on his face that he could tell I was lying. 

I blushed, embarrassed. I put my shoes back on and we left. He walked us over to the car.

“You take care of your mom, okay?” he said.

“I already do,” I retorted. What did he know? He didn't know how I brought her ginger ale and crackers, and held the trash can when she threw up, or how I made myself soup in the microwave when she was too tired to cook. 

“Charlotte,” Mom said, “Don't be rude.”

He looked down at me. “Nice to meet you, kiddo,” he said.

“Oh,” I said, remembering my manners. “Nice to meet you too. Dad.” 

Saying the word 'Dad' like that was like tasting something new, I had never said it to anyone before. I had always said, ”I don't have a dad”.

He blinked, taken aback, and then chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I am,” he said, and smiled. I opened the back door and got into the back seat, and Mom opened her door. I reached out to grab the handle and he started to close the door for me. 

“I got it,” I said. He just looked at me for a moment, and then let me shut my door.   
He put his hand on Mom's door and leaned down a little bit. “Call me about which day is best for you,” he said, “I'll be in touch.”

“All right. Thanks, Dean,” she said, and her voice sounded grateful. She looked up at him, and he smiled at her. Then he stood up and closed her door. She started the car and he stepped back as she backed out of the parking space. He stood there, watching us leave, and raised his hand as the car pulled away.

I wondered for a moment what he had meant, but Mom then turned the radio on and one of my favorite songs was playing, so I started singing along.

 

Chapter 1  
Mom scooted down into her sleeping bag. She looked over at me. Her bald head gleamed in the low light of the flashlight. “Are you having fun?” she asked. 

“Yeah!” I said, “I love s'mores, I wish I could've had more!”

She laughed softly. “They are good.”

“Can I have some for breakfast tomorrow?” I asked.

She laughed again. “No, Rick is going to cook breakfast in the morning- just wait. You'll love how bacon tastes when it's been cooked over a campfire- it's great!” 

“Yum!” I said.

She reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear. “Whatever happens, know that I love you, Lottie,” she said.

“I love you too, Mommy. Thanks for bringing me with you,” I smiled at her. 

“I'm going to turn the flashlight off,” I heard it click, and the tent became dark, except for the glowsticks that we had hung up in the corners of the tent. I had a big one in my sleeping bag next to me. 

Mom's co-workers had invited us on a campout this weekend. Mom said it was her “Last Hurrah” before her new treatments started. I was the only kid that was there, and I got a little bored from time to time, but a couple people had showed me how to do different things, like whittle a piece of wood with a knife, and how to build and start a fire. Mom wouldn't let me touch a knife though. Rick had said that he would take me over to the lake tomorrow and show me how to fish. I was excited about that, because I had never been fishing before. 

I laid there listening to the crackling of the fire outside the tent. A couple people were still awake and sitting around the campfire. I drowsed, listening to them talking quietly.

Then I started to hear growling. Someone said, “Oh my God!” in a loud voice. Mom sat up suddenly.

“Mom, what's-” I started.

“SHH!” She put her hand out to shush me.

We heard more growling, and a weird barking sound. Then someone screamed. There was the sound of fabric tearing, and the sound of something crunching, and a sound like something crashing through the woods. The growling and barking moved away for a moment, then came back.

“Oh God AAAAHHHH!” someone shouted. 

“JEEESUS!” another voice yelled.

I started to cry. “Mommy, what is it?” I whispered.

A woman screamed, and Mom said, “That's Janice. I've got to-” she started to get up.

“Mom, no! “ I whined, “Don't go, please!”

She turned back to me. “I'll be right back, sweetie. You stay here.”  
“But Mom--”

“Stay,” She said, and she got up and left the tent, zipping it closed behind her. 

I sat there, wiping my tears away and trying not to cry. My heart was pounding. I heard more sounds like branches cracking, and then a roar and a howl that make the hair on my arms stand up. That was not a normal animal howl. Then there was more growling and sounds of something heavy being thrown. 

“Jan?” I heard my mother say, “Jan? Oh-- OH NO!”

And then there was loud growling and more crunching and garbled sounding noises. 

“Mom!” I called out. Had something happened to her?

I got up and unzipped the tent and stepped out slowly. My legs were shaking so badly I thought I was gonna fall over. The campfire was dying, but I could see the shapes of people on the other side of it, laying down. I could see shiny liquid darkness around them on the ground, and what looked like part of a bone sticking out of someone's jacket sleeve.

I swallowed thickly, and heard a noise in the treeline across from the campsite. I snuck around the tent and started to run across the clearing through the tall grass, towards the trees. There were some huge bushes there, and I crawled into them and crouched down, breathing hard. I was terrified. What was making the growling? Was it a mountain lion or a bear? What if it came back? Had it hurt everyone there? Had it hurt my mom? What if it came for me?

I sat there, crouching in the bushes, for what seemed like hours. My legs were cramping, but I was too afraid to move.

I could hear voices talking. 

“Well, this one's a goner,” said a voice. 

“I don't think there's any survivors,” said a second voice, “We're gonna need to track this thing and gank it before it hits any more campsites.”

“Wait,” said the first voice. I heard footsteps, and then saw a flashlight bobbing towards me. I curled up even further, feeling more scared. 

A man stood there in front of me, and he moved the branches of the bush apart. He squatted down and looked in at me, shining the light on me. I could barely see him, just his outline. 

“Hi there,” he said gently. “Is that your campsite?” He pointed behind him.

I nodded, tears running down my face. 

“Did you...see anything that happened?”

I shook my head no, not trusting myself to speak. I was afraid I would start screaming and not be able to stop.

“I'm here to help you. Want to come out of there?”

I shook my head hard.

He chuckled slightly. “I'll make sure you're safe,” he held his hand out to me and beckoned me. 

“What's your name?” he asked me.

“Charlotte,” I whispered. 

“Hi Charlotte, my name is Sam. Come on with me, okay?”

I tried to stand up, but my legs felt like they were stuck in that position. I whimpered as I tried to move forward.

“Are you hurt?” his face was immediately concerned.

“No, I just...been sitting for a long time,” I said. I crept forward and he reached out and put his hands around my waist, pulling me out of the bushes. I stumbled and almost fell, and he leaned down and picked me up easily, holding me on his hip like I was a little kid. 

“There you go, I've got you, honey.” he said comfortingly. He straightened up and I gasped a little- he was so tall! I grabbed onto his jacket and his arm.

He looked down at me and picked a leaf out of my hair. “Are your parents here?” he asked.

“Just...just my mom.” I told him. “Is she okay?”

He got an uneasy look on his face, and didn't say anything. “Come on.” he said, and walked us back over to the edge of the campsite.

“I found someone.” he called.

Another man walked over to us and shined his flashlight at us. I couldn't see him at all.

“This is Charlotte,” Sam said, “She's here with her mom.”

“Oh my God,” said the man. 

“What, Dean?” Sam looked confused.

“Holy crap, dude- that's-- she's my daughter!” 

“What?” Sam looked down at me. “Are you sure?” He looked back at the man. “You-- you have a kid?” He shifted me on his hip slightly.

“Yeah, remember last week when I left for a few hours? I was, uh, meeting with her mother.”

“And you were going to tell me about this when?” Sam asked sternly, raising his eyebrow.

“I was getting around to it, there were some...things to take care of first!” Dean retorted. He stepped close to us. I could see his face now.

“Charlotte, you remember meeting me?” he asked.  
“Yeah,” I said. 

He exhaled. “Good.”

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, “Were you coming on the camping trip with us?” I looked at Dean.

“Uh, no-” Dean started, and then we heard rustling in the woods. They both turned quickly.

“All right, let's get her to the car,” Dean said.

“Which tent is yours?” Sam asked me. 

I pointed. “That blue and green one.”

He turned and started walking away. 

“Hey!” I said, trying to get down out of his arms, “I need my stuff!”

“We'll get it for you,” Sam told me, shifting me again and holding me tighter as he walked. “We're taking you to our car, and you need to stay there, all right? It's safe in there, just keep the doors locked.”

We walked until we got to a shiny black car. Dean unlocked it and Sam put me in the back seat.

“Stay here, we're going to go look for your mom,” Dean said.

“We'll get your things,” Sam told me.

“Wait!” I said, “Don't leave me...I'm scared!” 

“We'll be back in a few minutes,” Sam said, “It's all right.”

“Shouldn't we call the police? And an ambulance?” I asked.

“We will,” said Dean reassuringly, “You stay put, all right? We'll be back. Lock up.”

I sat. And sat. I looked around. The parking lot was dark except for one dim light on the other side. I looked around, out the windows, trying to see if I could see any movements. I thought I heard an owl hooting. I was starting to calm down, and I felt a little tired. My heart had stopped pounding finally. I sat back on the seat and looked around. There was a little green plastic army man stuck in the ashtray on the back door. I tried to get it out, but it was stuck in there really good. 

All of a sudden, the light across the parking lot went out. The only light that was out there was now the moon, which was one day past full. I started to get really scared! How long had I been here? Had they called for help yet? What if the bear had gotten them too? Would it come for me next? Where was my mom? What if she was bleeding somewhere? I had heard that people could bleed to death. Tears came to my eyes as I thought of my mother, laying on the ground in the woods, bleeding.

I opened the back door and got out slowly, then started to run across the parking lot. I had made it to the other side and was walking onto a path when I heard voices again.

“Shit! Where is she?”

“Charlotte!” someone called. 

I turned. It was Sam and Dean. I could see their flashlights moving. 

“Is that her?” They started to jog over to me. 

“What the hell, kid, we told you to stay in the car!” Dean said angrily.

“You were gone a long time!” I exclaimed, “I didn't know where you went! Why didn't you call an ambulance! Where's my mom! She could be bleeding to death, ya know!”

I saw them look at each other.

Sam bent down to me. “I'm sorry, honey, but...your mother is gone.”

I looked at him, then up at Dean. “What do you mean, gone? Did a bear take her? We have to go find her!” 

“No, Charlotte,” Dean said heavily, “She's...passed away.” 

“What?” I looked at them both again. Sam had a pitying look on his face.

I backed up from him. “No! No, I don't believe you! I'm gonna go find her!” I turned and started to run, but then someone caught me around the waist and lifted me in the air.

It was Sam again. “Nope, not safe for you to go running off,” he said, “We're going to take you back to our hotel, okay?” 

“No!” I said, struggling against him, “It's not okay! I want to stay here! I want my mommy! I need my stuff!”

“We've got your stuff,” Dean said, “Come on, kid, it's late. There's nothing more we can do here.”  
“I don't want to go with you, I want her!” I said, as Sam began to carry me back to the car.   
Dean walked ahead of us. I saw my backpack and sleeping bag on the ground next to the car. Dean picked them up and carried them around to the trunk.

Sam put me down in the back seat of the car. He started to stand up and I got out of the car. He grabbed me again and leaned down, holding my shoulders. “No, Charlotte,” he said firmly, looking into my eyes, “We have to go now.” 

“I don't want to leave her!” I said, and burst into tears. 

I felt him gathering me into his arms and picking me up, then he got into the back seat with me. He put me on the seat and I felt him pull the seat belt over my lap and buckle it. Then he put his arms around me again and pulled me into his chest. I grabbed ahold of his jacket and just kept crying. I heard the car door close and then the rumble of the engine, and felt the car moving. I cried and cried, and fell asleep with my face buried in Sam's jacket, feeling his hand holding my shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up slowly, smelling coffee and hearing clicking. I was confused- why wasn't I smelling the campfire, or hearing birds tweeting, or people talking outside of our tent?

I opened my eyes and sat up, looking around and rubbing my face. I was on a bed, in a hotel room. Some guy with brown hair that came down past his ears was sitting at a table across the room, looking at a laptop.

“Good morning,” he said, noticing that I was awake. He had hazel eyes and was wearing a blue and green plaid shirt.

“Who are you?” I asked, and then I remembered last night, and I started to cry. 

The guy stood up- wow, he was tall and huge!- and came over to the bed. “Charlotte, I'm Sam,” he said, and he sat down on the foot of the bed, facing me, “Do you remember meeting me last night?” 

“Yes,” I sobbed, “Where's my mom? Did you go back and get her? Are you- are you sure she's dead?” I scooted back on the bed until my back was at the headboard, and I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.

A door in the room opened, and someone came into the room in a cloud of steam.  
It was the other guy from last night, Dean Winchester, my father. 

“How do you know she's dead?” I asked accusingly, “Did you check? Where was she? She left the tent to help my Aunt Janice! What were you guys even doing there?” My voice got louder and more panicked sounding.

“Hey, easy!” Dean said, raising his hands. He had a white hotel towel around the back of his neck. He grabbed a chair from the table, dragging it over near the bed and turning it around backwards so he could sit in it that way. He leaned his arms on the back of the chair.

“Listen, Lottie- there's some things we need--”

“Don't call me that!” I snapped.

He sat back, confused. “What? I thought--”

“That's what my mom calls me! Just her!” More tears filled my eyes. 

“Oh.” He said, glancing at Sam. “Sorry. Well, listen, Charlotte-”  
“I don't like Charlotte either,” I said.

Dean exhaled. “Well, what do you like to be called?”

“Charlie,” I said, “That's what my friends at school call me.”

“Why don't you like the name Charlotte?” Sam asked me, “It's pretty, and old-fashioned sounding.”

“When I was in first grade, the teacher read us Charlotte's Web and all the kids started calling me 'Charlotte Spider' and 'Spider Girl', and I didn't like it. So I decided on Charlie.”

“How come your mother calls you Charlotte?” Dean asked me.

“Because she doesn't like Charlie. She says it's a boy's name and I'm not a boy. Some of my teachers call me Charlotte too, but I really don't like it.”

“Well, okay,” Dean said, “Charlie it is,” He cleared his throat, “To get back to the matter at hand-- we did search for your mother, and we found her. And she was, uh, deceased.”

I looked at him. “How do you know? Are you a doctor or something?”

“No, Charlo- Charlie, she was...too badly injured.” Dean looked down at the floor, then up at me again. “I'm sorry, kiddo.”

I sat forward, suddenly angry. “Didn't you recognize her? You should have tried to save her! You should have known who she was and seen that she was my mom, and tried to save her for me!” I shouted at him. “I need her!” 

Dean looked very uncomfortable. “I did recognize her.” he said. “But here's the thing, kid--”

“Dean, maybe you shouldn't--” Sam said.

“Shouldn't what?” I asked, looking at Sam and then Dean. “What?”

Dean swallowed, and looked even more uncomfortable. “Well, she was already...you knew her cancer was back, right? And they were going to try new treatments? The thing is, the doctors said that it probably wouldn't work...she was trying it anyway.” Dean sighed deeply and looked me in the eyes.  
“What I'm trying to say, Charlie, is that your mother was... already dying. The doctors only gave her a couple months at most. That's why she wanted you to meet me, so that you could come live with me when...it finally happened.” 

Anger washed over me like a wave. I balled my hands into fists. He couldn't know that! “THAT'S NOT TRUE!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, “YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!” I got off of the bed and rushed towards him.  
“YOU'RE LYING!” I screamed, and I threw myself at him, swinging my fists. One fist glanced off his shoulder- it was like hitting a brick wall- and the other fist hit his chest, another brick wall.

He sat back and put his hands up, trying to grab me. “Hey, easy now-” He said, and then Sam was coming over to us, and he grabbed me from behind and held my arms down at my sides.  
Sam sat down on the edge of the bed, holding me upright in the V of his legs. I struggled against him, starting to cry again. 

I knew, suddenly, that what Dean had said was true. After Mom had come back from the doctor's that last time she had spent a long time in her room crying, even though she lied to me and said she hadn't been. She couldn't hide it from me, though. And then for a few days she had been really huggy with me, holding me tightly and snuggling, but then she'd always end up crying. And then...she stopped being that way, and would sit at the kitchen table staring off into space for a long time, and spend lots of time on the phone with a lawyer. I had known that something was wrong, something was different, I just didn't know what to do. Or how to ask her about it.

“LET ME GO!” I screamed at Sam over my shoulder, then I turned to Dean, tears pouring down my face. “YOU LIE! YOU'RE A BIG FAT LIAR AND I HATE YOU!!”

“Charlie, take a deep breath.” Sam said. He took my wrists in his hands and then crossed my arms over my chest, making me hug myself.

“NO!” I shrieked. “I'M GOING HOME AND I'M GOING TO WAIT FOR MY MOM!”

“Charlie...” Dean said, and he looked guilty.

“I told you it was too soon to tell her that!” Sam said in a scolding way to Dean.

“LEMME GO!” I turned my head and yelled at Sam, who was still holding me tightly. 

“Not until you calm down.” he said.

I struggled against him but it was no use. Besides being as tall as a skyscraper, he was also really strong. After a few minutes I was panting and exhausted. I slumped against his hold on me, defeated, and started crying again. 

Dean got up off the chair and came over to the bed and sat down next to Sam. He put his hand on my arm. “Can I, uh, can I hug you or somethin'?” he asked awkwardly.

“No!” I jerked my arm away from him. “I hate you! Don't touch me!”

I tried to move away, but Sam was still holding me, just not as tightly. 

“Lemme go, you big giant meany!” I turned my head to glare at Sam.

He chuckled. “I've been called worse.” he said. He let me go and they both looked at me.

I crawled onto the bed, up to the head, and got under the covers, pulling them up over my head and curling in a ball, sobbing.  
I felt a hand on my back and jerked my body. “DON'T TOUCH ME!” I shouted.

“All right.” Dean said. I felt the bed shift and guessed that they had both gotten up.

I laid there and cried, hearing them talking quietly every once in a while, and the sounds of paper rustling and them eating. I drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

 

“Charlie.” I heard a voice say quietly. “Charlie, wake up.”

I sat up, pulling the covers off of my head. Sam was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at me. 

Dean was standing next to the foot of the bed. “It's the middle of the afternoon.” he said. “We figured you should wake up. You hungry? We got you some black olive pizza. Your Mom told me before that that's your favorite kind.”

At the mention of my Mom, tears came to my eyes. “I want my Mom.” I said, and then the floodgates opened. I started sobbing, and felt hands on my arms, pulling me close. It was Sam again. As I put my face against his chest I could feel how soft his flannel shirt was. He was warm, and smelled a little bit sweet, like sugar cookies or something. He put his arms around me and held me as I cried.

I heard Dean say, “Should I--”

“No.” Sam said. “I've got her for now.” I slid my arms around him and leaned into him more. 

Once I was all cried out I sat back, and Sam let me go. He leaned over and took a box of tissues off of the bedside table, and put them on the bed next to me. I wiped my face off and blew my nose.

Dean came over and handed me a bottle of water. “You should drink.” he said, “All this crying you've been doing, you're gonna get dehydrated.”

“I don't like water.” I said, and my chest hitched.

“You should still drink it.” Sam said. “That's all we have right now.”

I glanced around the room and saw a coffee maker on the counter. “Can I have coffee?” I asked.

Sam and Dean looked at each other and chuckled. “No, kid, coffee's for grownups.” Dean said.

“My Mom--” Tears came to my eyes and I blinked them away. “She lets me have coffee. We go to the coffee shop together all the time.”

Sam and Dean looked at each other again. “Drink some water, kiddo.” Dean said. “You want a piece of pizza?” 

I sighed. “I guess.” I said. I got out of bed and walked over to the table, where the pizza boxes were. Dean opened one and took out a slice for me, putting it onto a paper towel and handing it to me. He closed the pizza box and moved both of them over to the counter, then sat down in one of the other chairs, looking at me. 

Sam got up and came over to sit at the table too. 

“So, uh, earlier...” Dean started. He looked uncomfortable again. “Did you, uh, mean...”

I realized that he was talking about when I was yelling at them. I felt embarrassed.  
“Sorry.” I muttered, looking down at the table. “That was mean of me to say all that stuff.”

“We understand, you're trying to process some difficult things.” Sam said. “But you might want to think about how you talk to people.” 

“Sorry.” I said again. I couldn't meet their eyes. 

“I'm sorry I had to tell you that way.” Dean said. “That wasn't the way I--”

I looked up at him suddenly. “Can we not talk about it right now?” I snapped.

He blinked suddenly, taken aback at my tone. “Okay, sure.” he said. He and Sam glanced at each other again. 

I was almost finished with my piece of pizza.

“Would you like more?” Dean asked.

I shook my head. “No thanks. Maybe later.” I said. I looked around the room. It was an ugly hotel room, with two double beds and wall paper that looked like it was from an old-fashioned black-and-white tv show. 

“Why are you guys in a hotel room?” I asked. “And why did you show up at the campsite in the middle of the night?”

“We don't live around here.” Dean said. He and Sam looked at each other, and it was like they were having some kind of silent conversation. 

“Tell us about last night, Charlie.” Sam said. 

“Um, me and Mom went to bed, and then we started hearing these noises- like growling and stuff- I thought maybe it was a dog at first. But then there were sounds like bad stuff was happening...”

“Like what?” Dean asked. 

“Like- crunching sounds and ripping sounds and it sounded like something heavy was thrown, and something crashing around in the woods, and people started-- started yelling and stuff.” Tears came to my eyes. “Then someone screamed and Mom said it was Aunt Janice and she went to go look for her. Then she said, “Oh no!” and I heard more growling and stuff... and then I heard a howl, but it was-- it made the hair on my arms stand up.” I looked at both of them. “It didn't sound like a dog or a wolf or anything I've ever heard before.”

“Then what happened?” Sam asked.

“ I- I got out of the tent to go look for Mom, and I ran into the bushes after I saw some people...on the ground...I think they were-- were dead.” I whispered and swallowed uneasily. The fear I had felt came back to me and I started to tremble as tears filled my eyes and began to spill over. 

Dean stood up and came over to me, and put his arms around me while I cried again. He patted my back, and I could tell he felt awkward. When I stopped, he handed me a napkin to wipe my face.

He sat back down and looked at me. “Well, here's the thing, Charlotte...it probably wasn't a dog or a wolf of coyote or anything.”

“Then what was it?”

“We think it's a were wolf.” Sam said seriously.

“A werewolf?” I asked doubtfully. “I thought they were pretend. And how would you guys know that anyways?”

“Well, we're, uh, hunters.” Dean said. “But we don't hunt animals. We hunt...other creatures, like werewolves.”

“You mean they are for real?” I looked at both of them. “I knew it!”

They looked at each other again. 

“What do you mean?” Sam asked carefully.

“I know stuff sometimes,” I said, “and I believe in ghosts and stuff.”

“You do?” Dean was surprised. He looked at me, studying me. “What do you mean, you know stuff sometimes?”

“I, um, I'm not supposed to talk about it.” I said, uncomfortable that I brought it up. When I was younger I would just know things sometimes, like about people, and I would blurt them out, and more than once people got upset, because it was things that they didn't want other people to know. And I used to have dreams that came true. Mom had told me to stop talking about it and to keep my mouth shut. So I did. Eventually it stopped happening as much.

“We were in the area last night because we've been tracking this...creature. We've been tracking it for a while now. I wish I had known your mother was planning on going camping.” Dean told me.

“Why? Did you know it was going to be there?”

“No, we didn't know. But I could have told her to be careful. We need to go back to the area and do some more tracking.”

Sam's phone rang and he stood up and walked a short distance away. “Hey, Bobby. Yeah, we could use your help. We're tracking it, but a complication has come up.” He glanced over at us and then walked out of the hotel room.

“A complication?” I asked. “Does he mean me?” I got angry again. “Why am I a complication?”

“You're not a complication--” Dean started, but I interrupted. “Why don't you just take me to an orphanage then?” I snapped.

Dean leaned forward, looking me in the eyes. “Because you're my daughter, Charlie. And your mom and I already filled out the paperwork giving me custody, so don't even follow that train of thought. Sam didn't mean it like that.” He straightened, still looking at me. “He just means that it's going to be a little harder, because we can't leave you here alone while we go out investigating.”

“Yes you can, I'm not a little kid!” I said hotly.

“Uh, you're only 8 years old.” Dean said. “Too young to be left alone in my book.”

“I took care of my mom all the time, and when she was sleeping all day and night it was like I was alone! I can handle it!”

“No, Charlie, we're not leaving you alone here.” he said decisively. 

Sam came back into the room. He looked at Dean. “He can be here by tomorrow afternoon.” 

Dean exhaled. “Okay then, I guess we're just in a holding pattern until then.” 

Sam's phone rang again. He looked at it and then answered it, “Agent Sambora. Yes?” He stood up and walked into the bathroom. In a few minutes he came back out, hanging up his phone. “I've got to go over and talk to the M.E., gotta suit up again.” He walked over to the closet and took out a suit jacket and pants that were on a hanger. 

He looked at Dean. “They're gonna want to talk to you about her, so you better get your story straight.” He went into the bathroom again and closed the door.

I looked at Dean. “What does he mean?”

Dean looked down at the table. “Well, because we hunt supernatural things, we sometimes have to bend the truth...because most people don't believe. Sam is pretending to be an FBI agent so he can find out about the police investigation. We took all of your stuff out of the campsite so it looked like you weren't there.”

“Why?”

“So that there's less reason for them to be talking to you. They're going to want to talk to you anyway, because your mother is, uh, deceased, and they have to make sure you have somewhere to go. We were going to say that your mom went away on the camping trip and left you with me for the first time, so we could get to know each other. That's what you need to tell them when they talk to you, okay?”

I looked at him. “So, I have to lie? And you and Sam are lying too?”

He nodded. “Well, yes, but it's with good reason. People don't want to believe in supernatural things, so they deny evidence, and it's not worth it to argue. So we lie.”

Sam came out of the bathroom, dressed in a suit and tie. “I'll check with the police about if and when they're going to talk to you.” he said. “I'll call and give you a heads up.” He put his wallet and phone in his pockets. “Be good, you two.” he said, winking at me, and then he left the room. 

Dean looked at me. “What would you like to do now?”

I felt shy all of a sudden. “I don't know.”

“Well, this hotel has all kinds of movie channels, want to watch a movie?”

“Um, okay.” I said. We got up and sat on the sofa. He picked up the remote.

“What kinds of movies do you like?” he looked down at me.  
I shrugged. 

“Are you a Disney princess and Barbie kind of girl?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Yuck! No!”

He laughed. “Well okay then. You said you like Harry Potter, right? There's a couple movies for rent.”

“Yeah, let's watch one of them!” I said happily. 

He found the second one and started it. I noticed after a few minutes that he had put his arm on the back of the sofa behind me. I shifted so that I was a little bit closer to him, leaning into his side. When my mom was feeling really sick and really tired, she didn't want to be touched or hugged, and I missed the closeness that we had had before she got sick. I let myself enjoy sitting close to Dean, even though I didn't really know him at all.

 

Dean had gotten a phone call during the movie, and had made plans for us to go to the police station and talk to them in a little while. I got changed out of my pajamas and into the clothes I had been wearing when we were camping. I hadn't even realized that I was still in my pjs until Sam had said something. We had had to wait until Sam came back with the car, and then Dean drove us there. 

We sat down on a sofa in an office and the police detective looked at me. “Thank you for coming to talk to us today, Charlotte.” he said, smiling in a fake way. “Now, we'd like to know what you were doing this weekend.”

“I, uh, was with Dean- I mean, he's my Dad. I mean I just found out-”

The detective's forehead wrinkled with confusion. He looked at me and then Dean.

“We just met, sir.” Dean said smoothly. “Charlotte's mother was-- sick-- with... cancer, and she and I had met and made plans for me to take Charlotte in the case of her...demise.”

Dean glanced at me and put his hand on my hand. I looked at him and he smiled at me. 

The detective looked at both of us. “So you'd never met before and this weekend just happened to be the first time you were spending time together?”

“We met a couple weeks ago.” I said. “At a McDonald's, but it was only for a couple minutes. I thought that we were just meeting 'cause Mom told me I was going to have to stay with someone when she had her treaments.”

His forehead creased again. “I'm sorry? I don't understand--”

“When she had her treatments before, I stayed with my Aunt Janice when she got too sick to take care of me, but Mom told me that she wanted me to stay with someone else this time 'cause she was getting new treaments that were going to be harder on her.”  
I explained.

“Oh, I see.” he looked at me. “So you were going to be staying with Dean- your father?”

“Yeah. But she-- went away on this camping trip as a last hurrah before she started the new treatments--” Remembering her saying that made tears come to my eyes.   
I looked up at him. “I didn't know she was going to die!” I said, and I realized that I didn't know if I meant this weekend, or at all. She hadn't told me how sick she really was. I started crying harder, and bowed my head. 

I felt a hand on my back, and I looked up. Dean picked me up and put me in his lap. I curled up and leaned into his chest.

“As you can see, she's still very upset.” Dean said. “She had no idea of her mother's current diagnosis and it was quite a shock to her.”

“I'm really very sorry.” the dectective said. “If I could just--”

“There's nothing more to say.” Dean said. “She's been with me this whole weekend, and she's clearly upset. I think this interview is over.”

I heard the detective sigh, and then the squeak of chair cushions. I glanced up and the detective and the social worker had gotten up and were standing a couple feet away, talking in low voices.

“All right.” The detective came over. “Ms. Waldorf has already seen the paperwork, and she's satisfied with things. She can give you the phone number of the school system so you can get the information about where to send her school records in the fall, once you get settled. “

“Thank you.” Dean said. He looked down at me and put his hand on the back of my head. “I've got put you down for a sec.” he murmured. He shifted me onto the sofa and stood up. I wiped my face off and stood up as he shook the adult's hands. They shook my hand too, and then Dean took my hand and we walked out of the building.

“Well, that went better than expected.” He said. “You cried at just the right time, kid.”

I got into the back seat of the shiny black car. “What do you mean?” I asked hotly. “I wasn't faking it, ya know! I'm not like you, I can't just lie all the time!” I started to cry again. “I know she wasn't anything to you, but she is my mom! Was my mom!” I put my head down.

He had gotten in the front seat, and he turned around to face me. 

“I'm sorry.” He said sincerely. “I didn't mean it that way. You're right, she's your mom, and I should be a little more sensitive.” I felt his hand on my head for a moment.   
He faced forward and started the engine. “Want to go pick up Sammy and then go get something to eat? What kinds of food do you like?” 

“I don't care.” I sniffled, wiping my eyes. “Why do you call him Sammy?”

“ 'Cause he's my little brother.” he said. 

“He's your little brother? There's nothing little about him!” I laughed in spite of myself.

He chuckled. “I know, right? Kid used to be short and scrawny, and then puberty hit, and all of a sudden, he just shot up...I had no idea he was going to turn into such a moose.”  
“Moose? Do you call him that to his face?”

“Sometimes,” he said, grinning at me in the rear view mirror. “Or Sasquatch.”

“And he doesn't mind?”

He shrugged. “I guess not. He stopped kicking my ass over it a long time ago.”  
“He- he kicked your--”

“Not literally, no!” he laughed. “He used to get pissy about it but he doesn't anymore, not really. He knows he's a moose.”

I chuckled at that. 

He looked at me in the mirror again. “It's good to hear you laugh, kiddo.” he said kindly.

 

He pulled into the hotel parking spot and we got out of the car and went into the room. 

Sam had changed out of his suit again, and was wearing the same flannel shirt as before. He was once again sitting in front of his laptop. He looked up at Dean. “I think I found something.” he said. “I hacked into the ranger's database and there were reports about a couple of them finding like a nest or den of some kind.”

“All right, cool.” Dean said. “Want to go get something to eat? I'm starving.”

Sam sighed and pushed his chair back. “Okay then, we can talk about this later tonight.”

“Hey, can I play your laptop some time?” I asked Sam. He looked at me with a confused frown.

“Play?” he asked.

“Don't you have any games on it?” 

“Uh, no, I use it for research.”

“Can I still play on it? There are websites with games that I go on at school and stuff.” I said hopefully.

“I'll have to think about it.” Sam said. “I don't want anything to happen to my laptop, and I know some of those sites can harbor viruses.”

“Sam's a control freak about his laptop.” Dean said easily. 

Sam turned and looked up at him. “And we all know what happens if it gets infected with a virus. This is our life-line to a lot of different research, man. I don't want anything to get messed up.”

“I know, Sam, I was just teasing, geez.”

Sam looked at me. “To answer your question, Charlie, no, you can't play my laptop right now. I'd need to see the websites you wanted to play on first and check them out, and you'd have to ask my permission before you played.”

“Okayokay!” I said. “Geez, never mind!”

“My laptop is not a toy, Charlie.” Sam looked at me seriously. 

I stared back at him for a long moment but couldn't keep holding his eyes, so I looked down at my lap. 

Dean cleared his throat. “Are we ready to go? What are we in the mood to eat?”


	3. Chapter 3

We drove to a restaurant that served Italian food and subs. I ordered a kid's pizza for one, Dean ordered a Philly cheese-steak and french fries, and Sam ordered a Greek salad.

“Aren't you going to have her get some vegetables?” Sam asked Dean after the waitress had walked away. 

“Tomato's a vegetable,” Dean said, “And so are olives.”

Sam sighed and shook his head. “Do you like salad?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I said. 

“Why don't we get you one then?” Sam asked, motioning to the waitress.

Dean rolled his eyes. “You and Sam with your rabbit food,” he said, “Give me a cheeseburger and fries any day.”

“Hey, eating healthy is a good thing, right Charlie?” Sam said, smiling at me.

“I like hamburgers and french fries too, Dean.” I said.

“Your Dad has never liked vegetables.” Sam said in a confiding tone, leaning over to me. “That's why he's shorter than me, because I ate better than him when we were kids.”

“Really?” I looked at both of them, and they both laughed.

“No, as usual, Sammy's full of shi-- crap.” Dean said. 

The waitress came back to the table. “You need somethin' else?”

“Yes, she'll have a side salad as well.” Sam gestured at me.

“Dressing, hon?” the waitress looked at me. 

“French, please.” I said. “Can I get a Coke?” I looked over at Dean.

“Sure, why not.” he shrugged. The waitress looked over at him, and then left the table.

“Caffeine is not good for kids.” Sam said. “And it tends to keep people up at night if they drink it in the early evening.”

“All right, Dr. Spock.” Dean said sarcastically. “Enough with the parenting tips.”

“Dr. Spock?” I laughed. “What does a guy from Star Trek have to do with parenting?”

“No, you're thinking of Mr. Spock. Dr. Spock was a famous pediatrician who wrote a book on parenting that was popular a long time ago,” Sam explained, “Dean's just being a smart-aleck, as usual.”

In the corner of the restaurant were a couple of old-fashioned video games.

“Look at that, Sam. Remember Galaga?”

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, I do.”

Dean looked at me. “Want to go play some old-school video games?” 

“Sure.” I said. I followed him over and he showed me how to play the game Galaga. You had to shoot at aliens that were coming down at you from overhead. Dean was better at it than I was. There was a driving game next to it, where you sat in a seat and had to turn a steering wheel. I did better at that one. 

“Have you played a game like this before?” Dean asked me, sitting in the seat for his turn.

“A friend of mine has a Wii with a driving game and we play it together.” I said. 

Sam walked over to us. “Food is here, you two.” he said.

I watched Dean finish his turn and then we went over to the booth and sat down. 

“Hey,” Dean said to me, holding up his hand, palm out. “Good game.” 

I gave him a high-five and then started to eat my pizza. 

“So...” Dean said, looking a little uncomfortable. “You can, uh, call me Dean, or Dad, or whatever...”

“I can call you whatever? Okay, whatever.” I took drink of my soda and then looked up at both of them. They were both looking at me with disbelief on their faces.

I smiled at them. “I'm just kidding!” I said, and then they both looked relieved. 

Sam glanced at Dean. “She's a smart-aleck, she's definitely yours.” he muttered.

“You had me going for a minute, kid.” Dean exhaled. He nodded at Sam. “And he's your Uncle Sam,” he lifted his soda up to take a sip.

“Can I call him Uncle Moose?” I asked, and Dean choked on his drink, trying not to laugh. 

“And where did she get that from, Dean?” Sam asked, raising his eyebrow and giving Dean a look. 

“Sorry, Sammy, we were talking about how tall you are in the car...it just slipped out...” Dean picked up a napkin and wiped his mouth off. He looked at me. “I don't think Sam likes that, Charlie,” he said.

“Kind of disrespectful,” Sam said, looking at me a little sternly. For some reason I felt like shrinking up into a little ball under his gaze.

“Sorry Sam. I mean Uncle Sam,” I said, and I meant it. He looked at me for a moment longer, and then looked down at his salad and started eating again. 

“How's the pizza?” Dean asked me. 

“It's good,” I said. 

“Make sure you eat your salad,” Uncle Sam said to me.

“I will,” I said, “I mean, okay,” I said agreeably. I didn't want Sam to look at me again the way he had just a minute ago. 

I was hungry, so I ate all the pizza, except the crusts- I hate the crusts, they're boring- and my salad too. 

“Can we go play the driving game one more time?” I asked, as they finished up.

“Aren't you going to eat your crusts?” Dean asked.

I shook my head. “I don't like them.”

Dean picked one up and started eating it. “They're the best part.”

“We should get back to the room, it's getting late,” Uncle Sam said. I wasn't sure what he meant- late for who? I went to bed whenever I wanted to. Maybe he had to go to bed at a certain time?

Dean paid the bill and then we went back to the hotel. Once we were in the room, I turned on the tv and started flipping through the channels. I found a show that I liked to watch, a cooking contest.

Dean and Uncle Sam sat at the table with the laptop and talked about tracking and stuff for a while, looking at the website Uncle Sam had found earlier, then Dean came over and sat next to me.

“What are you watching?” he asked me.

“It's this cooking contest. Every week someone gets eliminated and has to go home. At the end the winner gets a lot of money and their own cooking show.”

“Must be nice.” Dean said.

“Well, they have to make up the recipes in their heads and sometimes they have to cook with really weird ingredients.” I told him. “Me and Mom watch it every week, but right now they're having a marathon, 'cause the new episode is on tomorrow night.”

Dean and me watched the next couple of episodes together.

All of a sudden, Uncle Sam cleared his throat and when I looked up, he was giving Dean a meaningful look.

“What?” Dean asked. 

“It's almost 11:00.” Uncle Sam said, nodding towards me, “Shouldn't...you know...”

Dean looked confused, then said. “Oh!” he sat up and turned towards me. “Charlie, you should go to bed now. It's way late.”

“I'm not tired,” I said automatically.  
“You've got to be tired, kiddo,” he said.

“Well I'm not,” I said resolutely. 

Dean picked up the remote and turned off the tv.

“Hey!” I said. “I was watching that!”

“Charlie, it's time for you to go to bed.” he said seriously. 

“Mom never made me!” I said.

“Well, you're with me, and I do things differently.”

“When you remember.” I said sourly.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“You didn't even notice until he said something!” I pointed at Uncle Sam.

“You're right...look, I'll be honest, I don't know what it's like to have a kid. I'm flying by the seat of my pants here and we'll figure this out together, but you need to listen to me and do what I tell you, and I'm telling you it's time for bed.”

“I don't want to go to bed!” 

“Well, I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Let's go.” He sat forward.

“I don't want to!” I repeated.

He leaned toward me and his face got hard. “Charlie, go get changed into your pajamas and brush your teeth now.” 

“No!” I whined.

“All right, the other choice is that I put you in bed just like you are.”

“I don't want to go to bed!” I protested. 

“Charlie, last chance.” he said.

I folded my arms and glared at him.

“Fine.” he said shortly. He stood and picked me up, carrying me over to the bed, and then dumped me on the bed. I was so surprised, I didn't even struggle.

“Get under the covers.” he said.

“No!” I got off of the bed, but he took my arm and sat me down again.

“Do not get out of bed again.” he said. 

He let go of me, and I stood up again and stepped away.

He grabbed me and pulled me back onto the bed, then he flipped me onto my stomach and smacked my butt.

“OW!” I screamed and burst into tears. My mom had never done that! My butt was stinging!

“You can't do that!” I exclaimed angrily. 

He leaned down. “Get under those covers now and don't get out again unless you want more.” he said.

I glared at him, feeling hurt, and then did so, pulling the covers up over my head.

“We're going to have a talk about rules tomorrow, little girl.” he said in a hard voice.

I ignored him and just kept crying. I curled up into a ball and cried myself to sleep. 

 

I dreamed of noises. The growling, and the sounds of something crashing through the trees and underbrush, the sounds of fabric ripping, and crunching, and then the screaming and the howl that had made the hair on my arms stand up--

Someone was holding me, I wasn't sure if it was Sam or Dean. The room was dark except for a light on in the bathroom. I felt arms around me, a hand rubbing my back, and heard someone murmuring, “Shhh, it's all right, you're safe, nothing can hurt you, it's okay...got back to sleep now, you're safe...” and I eventually drifted back to sleep.

 

“Hey.” Someone said quietly. I felt a hand on my head, brushing my hair off my forehead.

“It's time to get up, Charlie,” It was Dean. I rolled over and opened my eyes, then looked at him and remembered last night.

“You smacked me,” I said sulkily, and I rolled over and turned onto my stomach.

“With good reason,” he said, “You weren't listening to me.” 

“Mom never hit me!” I protested. 

“Well your mom's not here!” he snapped, and tears came to my eyes. I started sniffling. 

He sighed heavily. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.” he said. “Listen, I don't want to argue with you. It's time to get up and get going, we have to be out of the room in about 45 minutes. You need to get up, get dressed, and pack your stuff, and then we can go get breakfast.” 

“I'm tired.” I complained, wiping my eyes. 

“Well, that's because you were up late,” he said, “Come on, get moving.” 

“I don't wannaaa!” I whined.

Dean's phone rang and he got up to answer it. He walked over to the other side of the room and had a quiet conversation.

A short time later I heard the door open. “She's not up yet? We need to leave in 10.” Uncle Sam said.

“Dammit.” I heard Dean say under his breath. He walked over to my bed.“Charlie. Charlie, get up now. We need to go.” He pulled on my arm and I ignored him.

“All right. Sam, pack her stuff.” he said grimly. 

I rolled over and sat up. “Hey! Don't touch my stuff!” I exclaimed.

“Well, get your butt up and do it yourself.” Dean said.

I got out of bed and grabbed my clothes out of Uncle Sam's hands and pushed him. “You're in the way!” I said. 

He backed up, hands in the air. “All right, all right.”

“Charlie, you now have 5 minutes.” Dean told me. 

“I need to get dressed!” I protested.

“It's too late, we have to get going. You can get changed when we stop.”

“You're mean!” I said, stomping my foot.

“And you're a disobedient brat.” Dean said angrily. 

I was shocked that he said that to me. I turned to him and glared at him for a long moment. Then I walked over and crammed my clothes into my back pack. I slung it onto my shoulder and walked around the bed, towards the door.

“Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked. “What are you doing?”  
I struggled with the doorknob. It wouldn't turn all the way. It started to open and then there was a hand above me, shutting the door.

I looked up at Dean, who was standing behind me, glaring down at me.

“Where the hell do you think you're going?” he asked angrily.

“I'm leaving!” I snapped, “I don't need to be with someone who calls me names!”

“You are not leaving, unless it's with one of us. So go sit down on the sofa until we're ready.” Dean said firmly.

I put my hand back on the door knob. “No!” I said.

“Actually, we're ready. Unless you need to check--” Uncle Sam said. 

“No, I'm packed up. Do one more sweep of the room, Sam, and check for anything else of hers.”

Dean put his hand down and I opened the door and hurried out onto the sidewalk.

He followed me and grabbed ahold of my backpack. “Uh- uh, little girl,” he said, “You're staying right with me.”

I turned to the side. “Get off!” I snapped. He took my upper arm and led me over to the car, then he opened the back door.

“Get in,” he said tersely.

I crossed my arms and glared up at him. He leaned down so that his face was in my face.His green eyes were intense. “I told you to get in the car. Now do as I say.” 

“I don't have to!” I snapped.

“Yeah, kid, ya do,” he said, “I'm the adult and you're the kid, I tell you what to do, and you do it.”

“You're mean!” I said again, sensing that I was losing ground. 

“You think this is mean? You have no idea,” He straightened up and pushed me towards the car, “Get in and get buckled.”

“No!” I snapped, trying to pull away again.

He took my upper arms in his hands and picked me up, putting me into the back seat. Then he leaned down again, looking me in the eyes. “You listen to me, kid. I'm trying and trying to give you chances, because I know this has gotta be hard for you. But this shit needs to stop. You need to cool it with the attitude and the brattiness, and you need to start doing what I say. Otherwise there are going to have to be consequences.”

“What does that mean?” I looked at him, and then down at my lap. 

“Well, I really don't want to do this, but if I have to, I will put you over my knee and spank you.”

“You- you can't do that!” I protested, looking at him again.

He gave me a look. “I can, and I will if it comes down to it.”

“You better not!” I snapped.

He raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me? You want to go one round right now?”

He reached for me and I scrambled away from him across the seat. “No!” I said.

“You will not talk to me like that again, do you understand!” he said sternly.

“O—kay.” I said. “Sor-ry!” 

He looked at me for a long moment. “You really need to think about how you're acting, Charlie.” he said. “I'm not going to put up with it for much longer. Rules are going to be made, and you're going to follow them, or you're going to be in trouble. Now get buckled.” 

I looked at him defiantly, but something in his eyes made me nervous, so I looked down and then buckled the seat belt on.

“Thank you,” he said, and shut the door.

 

Uncle Sam came out of the room and closed the door behind him. He walked over to Dean and they walked a couple of feet away from the car and stood there talking for a few minutes. Every once in a while, one of them would glance over at me. I didn't know if they were talking about me, or checking to make sure I was still in the car. At one point, Uncle Sam said something and then glanced at me and shook his head slightly. I felt myself blushing. Maybe they were talking about me and how obnoxious I was. Maybe Dean was deciding that he didn't want me after all. Maybe they were trying to figure out how to get rid of me. 

They walked over and Dean got into the driver's side of the car and started the engine.

After Uncle Sam got in, they both turned around to face me.

“We have to check out here and go to a different hotel, we had only rented this room for a couple days,” Dean said, “And after we get settled in the new room, we're going to have a talk about behavior...and rules. Understand?” He was looking me straight in the eyes, and he was completely serious.

“O-okay.” I said slowly, then I looked down. He was looking at me so intently I started squirming. 

Dean stopped by the office so that Uncle Sam could drop off the room key, and then as he was getting into the car, both of their phones rang. I had a hard time figuring out what was going on, with them both talking at the same time.

Once they had both hung up, they looked at each other. 

“There's going to be a memorial service tomorrow that Liz's office is doing, for all the people who, uh, passed away at the campsite.” Dean said. He turned around to look at me. “Do you have a dress?”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

“Well, it's customary for people to wear nice clothes to a memorial service.”

“What's a memorial srvice?” I asked.

“Oh...it's, uh, like a funeral. But it's for people who, uh, don't have a casket.”

“Why?” I frowned, not understanding what he meant.

“Well, most of the bodies were...not... eligible for a casket,” Uncle Sam said uneasily, “They've been cremated.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, looking back and forth at them both, “I don't understand!” I huffed with frustration. 

“Okay, look,” Dean said. “This...creature, it tore the people up pretty badly, okay? And the M.E. decided to cremate the bodies, which means that they dispose of them in a fire instead of burying them in caskets.”

“My mom...got burned up in a fire?” I said disbelievingly.

“Dean!” Uncle Sam said, as I lowered my head and started crying.

“Dammit!” Dean said under his breath again. “Sam, what the hell, I didn't know...how else was I supposed to explain it?”

“Well, not like that!” Uncle Sam said angrily. 

“Charlie, I'm sorry.” Dean said. “I didn't mean to explain it like that and upset you.” 

I just kept my head down and cried quietly. 

“I've got to go back to the M.E. to go over some records later.” Uncle Sam said. “And the police are probably going to be at the service tomorrow, so I'll have to suit up and pretend I don't know you.”

“Bobby'll be here by then, we can get a ride with him.” Dean said. He put the car in gear and we started driving. I stopped crying and wiped my face off with the front of my t-shirt. It was the same one I had been wearing at the campsite and it still smelled like the camp fire. I sat up and turned my head to look out the window. 

Dean pulled the car into another hotel, and went into the office for a few minutes. Then he came out and drove the car around to a different section. Once he had parked the car, he turned to me again. 

“You okay, kiddo?” he asked gently, looking at me.

“I don't want to talk about it,” I said to him.

He sighed. “I get it. Listen, they told me that because of some legal stuff, we have to go into your mom's apartment today and get out any stuff of yours that you want. Do you feel up to doing that?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do I have to do that?”

“Well, for one thing, you're going to be coming to live with me. For another thing, because of the way your mother's estate was, all of her things have to be turned into assets to pay bills.”

I shook my head. “I don't understand!” I said, frustrated again.

“Don't worry about that part, okay, it's grownup stuff...too hard to explain to you. I'm dealing with it. But we need to go and get any of your things out of there that you want- clothes, toys, books—”

“Can I get my Harry Potter stuff?”

“You can get what ever you want.” Uncle Sam said warmly.

“Think you can handle it?” Dean asked.

I nodded.

They looked at each other. 

“I'll drop our bags in the room, and then we can go get some breakfast.” Uncle Sam said. 

“And then we'll go over to your place.” Dean said to me.

“Okay.” I said.

Uncle Sam got out of the car and opened the trunk, and I watched him walk the bags into the room. In a couple of minutes he was back, and he got back into the car. 

“What do you like for breakfast, Charlie?” he asked.

“I want pancakes...or waffles.” 

“There was a Pancake House off the main road back there,” Dean said, “We can go there.”

As Dean turned the car around to leave, I noticed that there was a playground across the parking lot.

“Look!” I said to them. “Can I go play on the playground later?”

“It depends what time we get back.” Dean said. 

“I can go in the dark, I don't care.” I said.

Dean looked at me in the rear view mirror. “Well I care.” he said. “I don't think being on a playground in the dark is such a wise idea. And you're not allowed to go their on your own, either, you hear me? Only with me or Sam.” 

I turned my head to look out the window. 

“Charlie? Did you hear me?” Dean asked.

“Yes!” I said with annoyance. 

“Watch your mouth, kid.” Dean said, and his voice was almost a growl. 

Once we were inside, I went to the bathroom. As I washed my hands, I looked at my face in the mirror. My hair was a little messy and rumpled looking – I hadn't brushed it since the day we went camping- and my clothes were dirty. There was still some soot from the campfire on my shirt and some dirt on my shorts from when I had sat down on the ground to toast marshmallows. If Mom was been here she would have made me brush my hair and change my clothes and take a bath, but I didn't care. And if Uncle Sam and Dean didn't notice, I wasn't going to say anything to them.

I slid into the booth across from them and opened the menu.

“I want pancakes.” I said. “Can I get bacon too?” Then I remembered Mom telling me about Rick cooking bacon over the campfire, and tears came to my eyes.

“Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked. “What's wrong?”

I blinked the tears away. “Nothing.” I said. “I want sausage instead. And can I get a blueberry muffin too?”

“You should get some fruit.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Do they have strawberries?” I asked, looking at the menu.

“It says whatever is in season.” Uncle Sam said. “How about we get a large fruit cup and share it?”

“Okay.” I agreed. “I don't like that green melon, though.”

“I'll eat whatever you don't.” Uncle Sam said, smiling at me.

Dean was watching me. 

“What?” I said.

“You bounce back from things pretty quickly, don't you?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” I didn't understand him.

“Let's hope it's bouncing back and not repressing everything like you do.” Uncle Sam said to him.

Dean made a scoffing sound. 

“I took care of my mom a lot, so I didn't have time to cry about things.” I told them. “When she was getting her treatments she would be too sick to move around and do stuff so I had to get her meds and bring her ginger ale and stuff. I learned how to do the laundry all by myself.” I said proudly. I had had to learn how, so that we could change her sheets when she threw up on them or got so sweaty that the sheets would get damp.

They glanced at each other. 

“So you had to pretty much figure stuff out on your own.” Dean said.

“Yeah, but it was okay. Mom kinda let me do what I wanted anyway. We were best buds.” I told him, and then tears came to my eyes as I remembered how we would watch movies on the weekends together and paint each other's nails. I turned my head to the side and blinked the tears back again. I was tired of crying all the time! 

“So she was more like a friend than a mom.” Uncle Sam said. “And then she got sick and you had to take care of her and also do things on your own.”

He looked at Dean again, and again it was like they were talking to each other without words. Uncle Sam gave a little nod.

Dean looked down at the table and fiddled with a napkin, then he looked up at me. 

“Well, listen, I understand that that's how it was with your mom...but things are going to be different now. I do things differently than your mom. And it's going to be an adjustment for all of us.”

The waitress brought our food over and set everything down. For the next several minutes we were quiet as we ate.


	4. Chapter 4

We followed Mr. Wade, the apartment manager, up the stairs to the apartment. As he put his hand up to put the key in the lock, we could see that the door was open just the slightest bit. 

“What the--” Mr. Wade said. 

“Stay back.” Dean said in a deep, serious voice, and he reached behind him and pulled out a gun! Uncle Sam took my arm and pulled me backwards toward the opposite wall, pushing me slightly behind him.

Dean pushed the door open quickly and went into the apartment, holding the gun up in front of him and looking around like policemen did on tv shows. 

“Mister, what--” Mr. Wade looked into the apartment, and then at Uncle Sam, shaking his head. 

“He's police.” Uncle Sam told Mr. Wade. 

Dean came back in a couple of minutes. “It's clear,” he said, “but it's obvious that someone's been here and been through the place.”

“Dammit!” Mr. Wade said. He looked down at me. “Sorry, kid, I hope nothing valuable was taken. Let me go grab my cell and I'll call the cops.” 

“Go on in.” Dean nodded to Uncle Sam. “I'll be right there.” 

Uncle Sam led me into the apartment. Stuff had been thrown everywhere. All the drawers had been pulled out and dumped, and all the cabinets in the kitchen were opened and stuff was out on the counters. 

“Why would someone do this?” I asked, feeling scared. 

“Did your mom have money here?” Uncle Sam asked me.

“Uh-uh.” I shook my head. “She has a fire safe but all it has is papers in it.” 

“Where is that?” 

“In her bedroom closet.” I told him. I walked over to the side table in the living room. 

“Oh goody!” I said. “My 3DS is still here!” We had a little charging station set up there for all of our electronics.

Uncle Sam walked over. “What's that?”

“You can play games on it.” I told him. I held it out to him and showed him. 

“That's pretty cool.” he said. “We didn't have stuff like that when I was a kid.”

“Well then, you must be old!” I said, grinning at him. “My mom has a Kindle, can we bring that too? She also has a laptop, but that belongs to her work and they'll want it back.”

“Sure, we can bring the Kindle.” Sam said. 

I unplugged the Kindle and took the charging cords out of the wall. 

“My games are in my room. Wanna come see?” I looked up at Uncle Sam.

“Sure.” he said. I led him down the hall into my room. The drawers of my dresser had been opened, but stuff was just moved around in the drawers. Some clothes had been pulled out of my closet and thrown on the floor.

“Sam?” Dean called. 

Uncle Sam stepped into the hallway. “In here--” 

Dean appeared in the doorway. “I...persuaded Mr. Wade to give us a few minutes before he calls the cops, so we can get out of here before they get here.”

“Why?” I asked. 

“Well, we want minimal involvement with the police right now. And as far as they know, Sam is FBI, so it would look suspicious if they saw him here with us.” Dean looked around my room. “This your room, kiddo?”

“Yeah.” I said proudly. “I picked out the color a couple years ago and Mom let me help paint it. She paid Mr. Wade extra money so that I could have my room be lavender.”

“That was nice of her.” Dean said. He walked over to the closet and looked in. 

“We should start packing your clothes, we don't have a lot of time.” he said.   
“Okay.” I walked over to my bed and pulled the covers down. “Mary Bear!” I said, pulling a teddy bear out from under the comforter. “Mom made me leave her here when we went camping 'cause she didn't want me to lose her.”

“Mary Bear?” Sam asked, looking over at me. 

I held the bear up. It had shiny cloth angel wings sewn onto its back. “Mom got me this bear when I was real little. I called her Mary 'cause I used to see a lady named Mary who would talk to me sometimes. Mom said it was 'cause of the song “Let It Be”, 'cause I used to love that song, but it wasn't.” 

I looked at Sam and then Dean. They were both looking at each other with funny looks on their faces.

Dean looked down at me. “What did this lady...named Mary...say to you?” he asked slowly. His voice sounded funny. 

I shrugged. “I can't really remember, I was real little, like I said. But she was watching over me, and I think she was a angel. She would talk to me when I was scared at night.”

“Do you remember what she looked like?” Uncle Sam asked, and it seemed like his voice shook a little bit.

“Um, I think she had blonde hair. And she smiled all the time.” 

Dean cleared his throat. “Well, you should definitely bring her.” he said. “She seems important to you.” 

“Yeah, she is.” I said. 

“Charlie, where is your mother's room?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“At the end of the hall.” I said.

“Charlie told me that her mom has a fire safe, I'm gonna go check it out and see what's in there.” Uncle Sam said. 

“I'll come too.” Dean said. “Charlie, get started on picking stuff you want to bring, and I'll be back in a couple of minutes.”

“Okay.” I said as they both left. I had no idea why they were acting so odd. 

I took my Harry Potter books off of the bookshelf and put them on my bed. Then I took some of my other books off of the shelf and piled them up. I started piling a bunch of my toys on the bed to take with me too. 

Dean came to the door. “How's it going?” he asked. “We should get your clothes. Do you have a suitcase?”

“They're in the hall closet.” I said. 

“Be right back.” he said. Uncle Sam walked by the room, going to the living room.

Dean brought 2 suitcases in. “I'll put the stuff that's in your dresser in this one.” he said, unzipping it. He started to empty the drawers out. 

“How about what's in the closet?” He asked me.

I got up and walked over to him. “Just those dresses. Everything else is too small.” I pointed at a group of dresses that was at the front of the closet. He took them off of the hangers and laid them in the suitcase.

“Can I bring my dollhouse?” I asked.

He turned from the closet. “Uh, no, only stuff that's going to fit in the back of the car for now.” 

“Awww!” I whined. “I love my dollhouse!”

He looked at me. “How big is it?”

I pointed at it in the corner. It was three feet tall, made of wood, and the back opened up.

He shook his head. “Sorry kid, that's way too big.” He looked at the stuff on the bed. “And there's no way you can bring all that stuff with you.”

“But- but you said I could bring my toys!” 

“Well obviously not all of them! We have a limited amount of space in the car, Charlie, so pick what's important to you!” 

“How can I do that?” I yelled. “It's all important!”

“Hey!” he snapped. “You do not raise your voice to me, little girl! And watch your tone!” 

I folded my arms and glared up at him. “Well you told me I could bring my stuff and now you're saying I can't! You lied to me!” 

He took a step towards me. “I did not lie to you. I wasn't expecting you to have a whole store's worth of toys in here!” 

“I don't have that much!” I snapped, stomping my foot. 

Uncle Sam appeared in the doorway. “What's going on?” he asked, looking at both of us. 

“He lied to me about what I can bring with me!” I exclaimed.

“I did NOT lie to you!” Dean said, and he stepped closer and loomed over me. “Little girl, I am about two seconds away from--”

“Dean.” Uncle Sam said. “Take a break. Go check her mom's room for jewelry or something.”

“My mom had a lot of not-fancy jewelry in the box on her dresser. But she had her fancy stuff hidden under the head of her bed.”

Dean sighed. “All right, fine. See if you can convince this kid that she doesn't need to bring every last worldly possession of hers.” He stalked out of the room.

Uncle Sam walked into the room and looked around. “You like Harry Potter, right? How about you bring your books and any stuff related to that.”

“Well, duh, of course!” I said. “Can I bring some other books?”

“Like what?” 

I showed him my other book collections, Narnia and the Guardians of Ga' hoole series and my Warrior Cats books.

“I have to bring my drawing stuff too.” I picked up the messenger bag that had all my drawing stuff in it, and set it on the bed. 

“So, you like to read and draw.” Uncle Sam said.

“Yeah.” I picked up my school backpack and settled on bringing some of my smaller toys, action figures and Hello Kitty dolls and small stuff like that. 

Dean came to the door. “Police will probably be here any minute, we need to leave now.” he said.

“Okayokay!” I said, standing up. He gave me a look and he and Uncle Sam picked up the suitcases. As we walked out to the car, I realized that this was the last time I was ever going to see the apartment. The home that I had lived in with my mom for all my life was no longer my home any more, and I was leaving it to go on to a completely different life. 

“Wait.” I said. “We're just gonna—gonna leave?”

“We have to, Charlie.” Dean told me. “The police will be here soon.”

“I forgot to get some pictures!”

“Oh, I took some off of the walls, and picked up the photo albums that were in your mom's room.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Thanks.” I said. Then I just started crying. 

“We need to get in the car.” I heard Dean say. I looked up at him, and he led me over to the car and opened the back door. To my surprise, he got in the back next to me. Sam got into the front and started the car. As he pulled away, I got onto my knees and looked out of the back window at the apartment building. “Goodbye...” I said softly, and then I burst into tears. I watched the building get smaller as we drove away from it, and then I felt Dean's hand on my back.

“Turn around and sit so you can get buckled.” he said quietly. 

I sat down, still crying, and fumbled with the seatbelt. I could barely see through my tears, and Dean buckled it for me, and then put his arms around me and held me as I cried.

We had been in the car for a while when Dean's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket with one hand and put it up to his ear, still keeping one arm around me.

“Hey, Bobby.” he said. “Oh, you are? Great. We're at the Ramada Inn off of Route 110. Do you know where that is? Just past the large rest stop, I think it was exit 127? Yeah, south. Okay. We're room--” he leaned forward. “What room number, Sam?”

“Room 208.” Uncle Sam said.

“Room 208. We should be there in about 15 minutes. Okay, see you then.” He hung up his phone and slid it into his jacket pocket.

“As you can probably tell, Bobby just got here. He'll get a room and then come to our room.”

“All right.” I heard Uncle Sam say. 

Dean looked down at me. “You gonna be okay?”

“I dunno.” I sniffled. He put his other arm around me again and I snuggled in to him. 

By the time we got to the hotel, I was half asleep. I felt the car come to a stop, and then the door opened. Uncle Sam reached in and picked me up.

“You want to lay down for a while, Charlie?” he asked me.

“Mmm-hmm.” I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder as he carried me inside. 

This hotel room had 2 twin beds and a sofa opposite, but then there was a small “sitting area” with a little loveseat and armchair, that was separated by a room divider.  
“This opens out to a sofa bed, but I'll just put you down here for now.” Uncle Sam told me. He laid me on the loveseat and then a moment later I felt someone covering me with a blanket. I rolled over, and as I fell asleep, I heard a knock on the door, and then a gruff voice.

 

When I woke up, I could hear voices talking quietly. My stomach was rumbling with hunger. I rolled over and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, then I looked around. The divider had little holes in it, and I could see three people sitting across the room through the holes. Who was the other person? I felt nervous all of a sudden.

“Charlie, you awake?” Called Dean. “Come meet your Uncle Bobby.” 

My who? I thought Uncle Sam was my only uncle. I stood up and walked around the room divider, glancing at them briefly and then looking down at the floor. 

Dean came over to me and put his arm around my shoulder, then led me over to the table across the room where they were sitting. 

There was an older man with a scruffy beard, wearing a baseball cap, sitting next to Uncle Sam. 

“This is Bobby Singer, he's a family friend.” Dean said. “You can call him Uncle Bobby.”

I held out my hand. “Nice to meet you.” I said timidly.

He shook my hand and said to Dean, “Kid's got better manners than you had at that age.”

Dean sat down at the table and pulled the chair next to him out for me. I sat down.

“Wait--” Uncle Sam said. “If we called him Uncle Bobby when we were kids, wouldn't that make him Charlie's Great Uncle?” He looked at Dean with a grin.

“That's one step away from being a grandfather, you know.” Dean smirked at Uncle Bobby.

“I aint' that old, ya idjit!” Uncle Bobby growled, and he smacked the back of Dean's head. Then he turned to Uncle Sam and smacked the back of his head too.  
“You're the one that brought it up. You're just as much a idjit as your brother!” 

I couldn't help it, I laughed. Uncle Bobby looked at me. “I helped raise these two, and as ya can see, they're never too old to have their heads smacked.”

“You helped raise them?” I was curious.

“Yeah, their dad would go on a hunt and leave them with me for a while. Got into all kinds of mischief, these two did.”

I looked at Dean and Uncle Sam. “I can't imagine you guys as little kids!” 

“Yeah, they were little once. Little hell-raisers.” Uncle Bobby said, and all three of them laughed. Uncle Bobby looked at me. “Dean, she's got your eyes, no doubt about it.” 

Dean also looked at me. “You think so?”

“She's also inherited his smart-aleck mouth.” Uncle Sam said.

Uncle Bobby raised his eyebrows, looking at Dean. “Then I guess she's gonna spend a lot of time washing Baby, like I had you washing my cars when you'd mouth off to me?”

“I don't even know how to wash a car!” I said. 

“We'll see.” Dean said, putting his arm on the back of my chair.

“Dean's too protective of that car to let just anyone wash it.” Uncle Sam said. 

My stomach growled just them, loud enough to be heard, and everyone looked at me.

“You slept through lunch, I guess you're hungry.” Dean said. “It is almost time for dinner. Should we go eat?”

 

Dean drove the car and Uncle Bobby sat in the front seat. Uncle Sam sat next to me in the back. We went to a steakhouse, which was a type of restaurant I had never been to. There was all kinds of pictures of cowboys and rodeos and horses on the wall, and decorations like saddles and rope and hats all over the place. At our table there was a little metal bucket filled with peanuts.

“Are we allowed to eat these?” I asked.

“Yes.” Dean said. “And drop the shells on the floor.”

“Really?” I looked down, and sure enough, there were peanut shells under our table. 

I laughed. “I've never been to a place where they let you throw food on the floor!”

All three of them ordered beer for their drinks, and when the waitress brought the bottles, I asked, “Can I try some?”

“No.” all three of them said at the same time, and then they all looked at each other.

Dean looked down at me. “And if I ever catch you trying any, you'll end up with a sore butt.” he said sternly.

I was embarrassed that he said that in front of Uncle Sam and Uncle Bobby, so I opened up my menu and hid behind it. 

“I finally got ahold of John yesterday, told him to call ya.” Uncle Bobby said to Dean.

“Okay.” Dean sighed. “You know how the old man is, he's a force unto himself. He'll call when he can, I guess.” 

“Who's the old man?” I asked.

“Our dad.” Dean said. “Your grandfather. I'd like to let him know that he has a grand-daughter, but he hasn't returned any of my calls.” 

“If he's really old, maybe he keeps forgetting because he's senile?” I said.

Uncle Sam laughed, choking on his drink, and Bobby laughed too.

“No, he's not that old. And I would suggest that you not call him old man, cause I don't think he'd take too kindly to that.” Dean told me.

“Oh.” I looked down at my placemat. “Is he mean?”

“He can be a little...stern sometimes, but he's basically a good guy.” Dean said. 

“Am I going to meet him?”

“Yeah, that's the idea, if he ever calls me back.” Dean said. 

The waitress came over to the table and took our orders. They all ordered steak, and I ordered chicken strips because I don't like steak. 

I pulled out my 3DS while we were waiting for the food.

Dean looked down at me. “Where'd you get that?” he asked.

“Uh, this place that helps families of cancer patients.” I told him. “When Mom was first diagnosed, the hospital gave them Mom's information, and they brought us a bunch of stuff, groceries and clothes, hats that people made for when she lost her hair, and this for me and a Kindle for Mom, so we'd have something to do when she was getting her treatments.”

“That's pretty nice.” he said. 

“Yeah, they also had people come in and clean a couple times after things started, 'cause Mom was too sick to do anything much except throw up.”

Dean watched me play. “You're good at that.” he said. I was playing a puzzle game. 

“I like to do puzzles like this.” I said.

When the food came to the table, I kept playing, until Dean said, “All right, Charlie, put it away and eat.”

“I can play and eat at the same time.” I said. “I always do.”

Dean put his hand over the screen. 

I looked up at him. “Hey!”

“I said put it away and eat.” he said in a serious voice, and he gave me a look.  
I sighed. “O- kay.” I said, and turned it off. I ate quickly, getting bored as they talked about hunting and weapons and stuff. Once I was finished, I picked up the 3DS again. 

Dean looked at me. “Little girl, are you finished eating?” he asked, and his voice was that deeper tone that he got when he was annoyed.

I shrank down in my seat. “Yes! And I'm bored of listening to you guys talk!” 

Uncle Bobby chuckled. “Dean, you sounded just like your old man for a second there.” 

Dean made a “hmph” sound, and then looked at me. “Fine, you can play.” he relented. 

I concentrated on my game until the dishes were cleared away. As we stood up to leave, Uncle Bobby said, “I'll come to your room after 9 pm and we can go out and do some tracking. 

“Will do, Bobby.” Uncle Sam said.

I looked up at Dean. “What does that mean?”

“You really were involved in your game, huh?” he said. “Uncle Bobby and Uncle Sam are going to go out later tonight and see if they can track the creature.”

I got worried. “But- is that safe? What if they get hurt?”

“Don't worry.” Dean said. “They know what they're doing, theyll be fine.”

 

Once we got back to the hotel, Uncle Bobby went to his room. I grabbed the tote bag that had my books in it and sat down on one of the beds. I took out some of my Harry Potter books and looked at them. Uncle Sam and Dean stood over in the corner of the hotel room, talking quietly for several minutes. Then they brought chairs over and put them down by the bed, then sat down.

“Okay, kid.” Dean said. “Time to have a talk.”

I felt a nervous pang in my stomach, but I didn't let it show. I opened one of the books and read the inside flap. “About what?” I asked casually.

“Charlie, close the book and pay attention.” Uncle Sam said sternly. “That's rude.”  
I felt myself blushing a little bit and closed the book. I looked at him, and then at Dean-- they were both looking at me with serious looks on their faces. I couldn't keep looking at them, so I dropped my eyes and stared at the bed spread. It had big orange, brown, and yellow flowers on it. 

“Now, like I said earlier, this is a big adjustment for all of us.” Dean said. “I know it's a huge change for you, and we're willing to cut you some slack. But your behavior has got to change some.”

“No more rudeness, no more disrespect, no more attitude.” Sam said. “When one of us tell you to do something, you do it, without a lot of sass.”

“Wait a second, you're getting ahead of things.” Dean said. “I know with your mom things were...a lot more relaxed. From what you've said, it sounds like she didn't have any rules for you and she didn't really enforce anything, so you pretty much did what you wanted. Am I right?”

I squirmed, embarrassed. Why did he have to make that sound like it was a bad thing? “Yeah, I guess...” I said quietly. 

“Well, that's going to change. I'm going to make rules for you, and there are going to be consequences for breaking those rules.”

“Consequences?” I asked. “What do you mean?” I didn't like the sound of rules, but I liked the sound of consuquences even less.

“We'll get to that in a minute.” Dean shifted in his chair. “Some of your rules are going to be- you don't go anywhere on your own right now. When we're out somewhere, you don't wander off, you stay with us. You do what we tell you to do, right away, without complaining or mouthing off. No rudeness, no disrespect, no more attitude, like Sam said. Your bedtime is at 8:30.”

“8:30!” I complained. “That's early!”

They glanced at each other. “Let's see how you do with that.” Sam said. “We can re-negotiate later if it isn't working out.”

“I will look up some game sites if you give me the names of them.” Sam told me, looking at me. “But for right now, you are not allowed on my laptop. And you will always have to ask permission before you do anything on it. Understand?”

“Okaaaay.” I said.

“Now, consequences.” Dean said. 

My stomach twisted nervously. I looked at him, my mouth going dry. He had said before that he would spank me. My mom had never spanked me, not even a swat. 

“Consequences are going to be things like early bedtime, taking away your 3DS, writing lines--”

“What is that?” I asked.

“When you write the same sentence over and over.” Uncle Sam said. “Like, 'I will follow the rules'.” 

“That sounds really boring and stupid.” I said. 

Uncle Sam cleared his throat. “All of these consequences are negotiable.”

“The last consequence is spanking.” Dean was looking at me intently. 

“But-- but- I-- you-- you can't!” I started to scoot backwards on the bed. 

“And why not?” Uncle Sam asked calmly.

“My mom never did that!” 

“Well, like I said, things are different now.” Dean told me. “I'm not like your Mom, and neither is Sam.”

I looked back and forth at them. “Wait...is he gonna spank me too?”

They glanced at each other again, and I could see them doing their 'silent talking' thing.

“Yes.” Dean said. “There's going to be times when I'm not here and Sam will be the one taking care of you.”

“But- but- I don't want to be spanked!” I protested.

“No kid ever wants to be spanked.” Uncle Sam said. “It's kinda the point, it's a deterrent for future bad behavior.”

“Huh?” I didn't understand what he meant.

“The idea of getting a spanking is supposed to make you want to behave enough so that you don't get one.” Dean said. 

“Oh. Right.” I said. “Well I don't want to be spanked at all!”

“Then you'll have to follow the rules, won't you?” Dean asked.

“But-- but what if I forget?” 

“We'll remind you.” Uncle Sam said. “We'll cut you some slack at first, because we know it's going to take some getting used to.”

“I don't like this!” I said, frowning. 

“It's going to be hard at first.” Dean said. “We'll all help each other. It's almost 8:00 now.” Dean said. “I'd like for you to take a bath and then get your pajamas on for bed.”

“But you said bedtime was at 8:30!” I complained.

“In bed with lights out at 8:30, not getting ready at 8:30.” 

“I really don't like this!” I snapped.

“Well, you don't have to like it.” Uncle Sam said. “But it's the way life is now.”

“Well I think it's dumb! And all these rules are not fair!” 

“Listen, the rules are to keep you safe. They don't have to be fair.” Dean told me.

“And you need to watch your mouth.” Uncle Sam said.

“I can't say how I'm feeling?” I asked angrily.

“You can express yourself without giving attitude.” Uncle Sam said calmly. “Or sassing.”

I sighed heavily. “Fiiiine.” I said. 

“Watch it.” Dean said warningly. “Sam just talked to you about attitude. Do you need a consequence right now?”

“No!” I snapped, and they both glared at me. “Uh, I mean, no.” I gulped. “Sorry.” I muttered. 

“I think that from now on, when you answer us, it's going to be 'Yes, Dean', and 'No, Dean'. Without any sass. And if that doesn't work, it's going to be 'Yes Sir' and 'No Sir'. Is that clear?”

“Yeah- uh, yes Dean.” I said. 

He stood up. “Do you take showers, or baths?”

“Bath.” I said. 

“All right, I'll get it started.” He went into the bathroom and I heard the water running. 

I got out my pjs and a clean pair of underpants and went into the bathroom.

“Is this too hot?” Dean turned to me and I leaned down and put my hand under the faucet. “Yeah.” I said. 

He turned the tap slightly. “How's this?”

“Better.”

He straightened up. “So, uh, do you need any, uh, help...washing or anything?” He looked uncomfortable.

“No, I'm not a baby!” I said. “I can wash myself just fine.”

He looked relieved, then he turned the water off after a couple of minutes. “I'll leave you to it then.”

He left the room and closed the door behind him. After shedding my clothes, I got into the tub and did a quick wash, leaning back into the water and using the little bottles of shampoo and conditioner that were on the edge of the sink. They made my hair smell all perfumey. 

I realized that I had a problem after I had dried off and gotten into my pjs. 

I walked into the room, holding my pink Hello Kitty hairbrush.

“Uh, I need help.” I said awkwardly. “I have a couple big knots in my hair that I can't get out.” 

Dean was sitting on the sofa holding a bottle of beer, and he patted the cushion next to him.

“Sit down and I'll give it a try.” he said. I sat next to him and turned my back to him.

He wasn't good at brushing knots out of hair at all! After the third time of him yanking my hair, I got tears in my eyes.

“Ow, Dean! You're hurting me!” I put my hands up to my head and leaned away from him.

“Sorry, kiddo, I have no experience with brushing hair. Mine's always been short.”

“Come here and let me do it.” Uncle Sam said. He was sitting at the table. I walked over to him and sat in a chair next to him.

“Oh, like you have experience?” Dean scoffed.”Well, I guess you do, since your hair's always been long.”

“Shut up, Dean.” Uncle Sam said. “I used to brush Jess's hair.”

“Who is Jess?” I asked, handing him the brush.

“My girlfriend.” he said shortly.

“You had a girlfriend?”

“Yes.” he said, gently working the brush through one of the tangles.

“How come you're not together? Did you break up?”

“No. She...passed away.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I murmured, glancing back at him. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he divided my hair apart. He started to work on another section.

“You're good at this.” I said, closing my eyes. 

“Thanks.” he said. After he got all of the knots out, he brushed my hair until it was smooth. It was relaxing to have someone else brush my hair like that.

“I'm guessing that you like this cat.” Uncle Sam said, handing me the brush. My pjs had little pictures of Hello Kitty on them too, it was a shirt and shorts set that had a little ruffle on the sleeves and hem, but it wasn't too girly, which I liked. 

“Hello Kitty is awesome!” I said. 

“That's a cat?” Dean asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, can't you tell?” I said.

He shook his head. “Could've fooled me. Did you brush your teeth?”

“Not yet.” I said. I walked back into the bathroom and put the brush on the edge of the sink, then I brushed my teeth. When I walked back out to the room, Dean had opened up the sofa bed. He pulled the covers down a little ways. 

“All right, come on.” he said, motioning to the bed.

I looked over at the clock on the t.v.

“But- but it's not 8:30 yet!” I protested.

“Close enough.” he said. 

“But- the new episode of Kitchen Wars is on at 9, and I have to watch it!” I looked at Uncle Sam, and then at Dean.”Please, I have to!” 

“We may be able to record it, or look it up online tomorrow.” Uncle Sam said. 

I stomped my foot. “No, I don't want to watch it tomorrow!” How could I explain to them that this was the closest thing to a routine that I had had with my mom, and I felt like it was a way to stay connected to her? 

“I have to watch it tonight!” I shouted angrily.

“No, the only thing you have to do right now is go to bed.” Dean said, and his voice was that growl that meant he was getting angry. I walked across the room and sat down on the sofa, picking up the remote and turning on the t.v.

“Charlie--” Dean said. “Turn off the tv and come get into bed.”

I ignored him. 

“Charlie.” Dean said, and his voice was deeper. “If you're not over here by the count of three, I will spank you. One...”

I had heard Moms on the playground counting like that to their kids, and the Moms never got to three because the kids always behaved when they started to count. Did a spanking really even happen? I looked over at Dean. His hands were on his hips and his eyes were narrowed. I looked at Uncle Sam. He was watching me with his eyebrows raised. 

“Two...” Dean said slowly. A muscle twitched in his cheek, and I realized that he was really angry. I decided that I did not want to find out what happened at three, and I stood up and hurried over to the sofa bed just as Dean said, “Three.”

He met me partway across the room, and picked me up by putting his hands under my armpits. He carried me over to the sofa bed and laid me down on the bed on my tummy, putting his hand on my back, and then he spanked me rapid-fire, onetwothree times, and I yelped and burst into tears. He let me up and I crawled onto the bed, pulling the covers up around me. I reached back and tried to rub the sting out of my bottom.

“I just wanted to watch the show 'cause me and Mommy always watch it!” I sobbed. “It's something we do together!”

“Dean--” I heard Uncle Sam say, and then I heard Dean say, “Shit.” under his breath. I heard Uncle Sam say something quietly to Dean.

I felt a hand on my back. “Charlie--” Dean said, with regret in his voice. “I'm sor--”

“Leave me alone!” I yelled, pulling the covers up over my head. 

The hand moved away, but then a couple moments later I felt a hand on my arm, and the covers were being pulled back. Dean picked me up and turned me around to face him.

Uncle Sam was standing right next to the bed. I gulped- was he going to spank me too?

“I didn't know, Charlie, and I'm sorry.” Dean said, sitting down on the bed. “I should have asked you.”

He pulled me into a hug and I sat there stiffly for a moment. 

“Sometimes I'm going to screw up.” Dean said. “And the only thing I can do is apologize.”

“We can make exceptions for bedtime sometimes.” Uncle Sam said. “Nothing is written in stone.”

“Did you have any kind of bed time routine with your mom?” Dean asked gently.

“No,” I said. “I just went to bed whenever. A lot of the time her meds would have made her go to sleep before me. The only routine we had was when we watched our shows together.” I wiped my eyes with the sheet.

“Well, tomorrow, you tell me what other shows you watched with her and we'll make sure you can watch them, okay?”

“Okay Dean.”I said, and I put my arms around him and hugged him back. He squeezed me for a moment, and then dropped a kiss on the top of my head. Then he let go and stood up.

Uncle Sam came over and leaned down, giving me a quick hug. “Talk to us, Charlie.” he told me. “Let us know things like this, okay?”

“Yes, Uncle Sam.” I sniffled, hugging him back. I laid down and he pulled the covers up. 

“Goodnight.” They both said. They walked around the room divider, and then I heard the fridge open and the sounds of them taking the tops off of beer bottles.

“Jesus, I feel like a dick.” Dean said in a low voice.

“You didn't know, Dean.” Sam said quietly. “It'll be all right.”

 

I woke up with a start, having had another dream about hearing the noises at the campsite. The only light in the room was the bathroom light, with the door partway open. Dean was asleep in his bed and Uncle Sam wasn't back yet. I got out of my bed and walked over to Dean's bed, getting in next to him. I curled up with my back against his back, feeling the warmth of his body, and fell back to sleep quickly.

 

I woke up early, for some reason. The sun was just starting to shine into the windows a little bit. I sat up and looked around. Uncle Sam was in his bed, sound asleep, and Dean was in bed next to me. I shook his arm. 

“Dean.” I whispered. He didn't respond at all. 

I got off of the bed and found my 3DS. It was out of power, I had forgotten to plug it in to charge last night. My bag with my drawing stuff must still be in the car, and I wasn't in the mood to read. I didn't want to turn on the t.v. and risk waking them. I decided to go check out that playground that we had seen.

 

With my mom, she was usually so out of it that I couldn't wake her up, so I stopped trying to bother her and instead just let her sleep. I learned to do lots of stuff on my own. I made my own soup and mac-n-cheese in the microwave, I dragged the laundry up and down the stairs and put everything through the machines, then folded it and put it away, I went down to the ground floor and got the mail out of our mailbox, and I went to the small playground/park that was next to our apartment complex. There were usually people there- if not school kids, then some of the people that lived in our building. There was usually at least one old lady walking her dog, or one of the moms with a baby or toddler or two there. I always felt okay there. 

This playground should be the same- it was part of the hotel, so only the people who were at the hotel should be there, I reasoned to myself. I found my shoes, halfway under the sofa, and put them on. I went to the door and unlocked it, then I stopped. Should I leave them a note? I shook my head-- I'd probably be back before they woke up. And I didn't want to wake them up, especially Uncle Sam, since he had been out so late. I opened the door quietly and slipped out onto the sidewalk.

I was the only one on the playground. It was small, and there wan't much to do, but there were swings, which was my favorite. I swung for a long time, closing my eyes and feeling the breeze in my hair, and enjoying feeling the sun on my skin. 

“CHARLOTTE ANNE WINCHESTER!” a deep voice shouted.

I was startled by hearing my name, and opened my eyes. Dean and Uncle Sam were walking across the parking lot towards me, and I could tell by the looks on both of their faces that they were mad. Uh-oh.


	5. Chapter 5

I slowed the swing and just sat there as Dean and Uncle Sam walked over to me. They stood there in front of me, just looking down at me for a long moment. I felt nervous.

“What the hell, little girl?” Dean asked, his voice deep with anger. “I told you that you were not allowed to come here on your own, and we had a discussion about rules last night—do you think that the rules don't apply to you?”

“I, uh...no.” I looked down at my feet, not sure of what to say.

Dean reached out and grabbed my hand. “Let's go.” he gritted out.

I walked in between them, looking up at both of them as we walked, and I felt very small. My short legs struggled to keep up with their long strides. 

Uncle Sam unlocked the door and Dean guided me into the room ahead of him. As I walked in, I felt a sharp sting on my butt.

“Ow!” I said, and turned my head just as he swatted my butt a second time. He let go of me and pointed. 

“Go sit on your bed.” he said sternly. “You're there until I say so.”

I walked over to my bed, trying to rub the sting out of my bottom. I sat down on my bed and watched them.

Dean went outside with Uncle Sam and they stood just outside the door, talking. They kept glancing in at me. I looked down and picked at the rubber on the side of my tennis shoe. 

Finally Dean came into the room, took his keys off of the dresser, and took them out to Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam got into the car and drove away.

Then Dean came in and sat down at the table.

“Charlotte, come here.” he said.

I got off of the bed and walked over to stand in front of him.

“Explain yourself.” he said, looking at me intently. He still looked angry.

“I, uh, didn't have anything to do this morning, so I went to play on the playground.” I looked down at my feet.

“Do you remember what I told you about the playground yesterday?”

“Um...you said I had to go with you or Uncle Sam.”

“Then why did you go by yourself?” 

“Well, you guys were asleep and I wanted to let you sleep.”

“You wanted to let us sleep?” He acted like he didn't believe me.

“Yeah, my mom would need lots of sleep so I would let her, because of her medicine. There was a playground next to our apartment that I went to a lot.”

“By yourself?”

I nodded.

“And she was okay with this?”

“She- she didn't know.”

He rubbed his forehead. “I don't think your mother would have been okay with you going to a playground by yourself.”

I shrugged.

“Yesterday, I told you that you were not to go anywhere on your own, didn't I? That was a rule that I made.”

“Oh.” I said. “Yeah.”

“Oh? That's all you have to say is oh?” he looked at me. “You listen to me, you can't just go anywhere you want or do whatever you want anymore! For one thing, going to the playground on your own is dangerous. That's why I told you that you were not allowed to go unless Sam or I was with you. And you don't get to decide that you're going to go do something and then do it. You need to ask permission before you do something, and if it's something I've specifically told you not to do, then you don't do it anyway just because you want to.”

“But – but I didn't know--”

“Didn't know what?” he asked, frowning.

“Didn't know that you were serious.” I said. 

I didn't know how to explain to him that Mom would sometimes make rules but then she rarely followed through with them or forgot about them. And of course, I wasn't going to remind her. 

“Well, now you're going to learn just how serious I am. The rules are important, Charlie, and I expect you to follow them. And when you don't, you're going to get in trouble.” he said. “When Sam and I were kids, if we did something dangerous, or broke a rule, our Dad would spank us. And that's what I'm going to do.”

“You already did!” I put my hands behind my back and stepped back.

“I gave you a couple of swats.” he said, reaching for me. He took my arm and pulled me towards him.

“My mom never spanked me!” I protested, getting scared. Tears came to my eyes. 

“Well, like I said yesterday, things are different now.”

“But you can't- I mean--”

He leaned forward and picked me up, and suddenly I was looking at the rug, face down over his lap. Before I could say or do anything, his hand fell on my bottom for the first time, and I caught my breath, because it hurt! 

“Ow, Dean, stop!” I cried out. 

His hand fell again and I tried to slide off of his lap. He pulled me closer to his body and then I felt his arm across my back, pinning me across his lap. 

“Nooo!” I howled, as his hand came down again and again. I struggled, trying to get away from his hand, but he held me there firmly. 

I was going to say I was sorry and that I would follow his rules but when I opened my mouth all that came out was a loud wail. 

He stopped for a moment. “You're going to follow the rules from now on?”

“Y-yes Dean.” I sobbed.

“And do what I tell you to do?”

“Yes D-dean.”

Four hard swats fell, and I whimpered. Then he stopped and put his hand on my back. I laid there for a moment, feeling my bottom stinging, and then he pulled me up to sit in his lap. I got on my knees and threw my arms around his neck, “I'm sorry I was bad, Dean!” I sobbed into this shoulder.

He put his arms around me and hugged me. “You're not bad,” he murmured to me. “This is a big change for you and you're getting used to it. We're all getting used to it. It's okay.” He rubbed my back as I calmed down. I sat in his lap and slid my arms around his middle, enjoying feeling his arms around me. I missed snuggling with my mom, when she had been asleep so much I couldn't snuggle with her and a lot of the time when she was awake she didn't want to be touched.

 

The door opened and Uncle Sam came in with a drink carrier and a paper bag.

“Breakfast.” he said to us, walking over to the table and setting everything down.

Dean looked at me. “Are you hungry?” he asked. 

“A little.” I said. 

He put me on the floor and we walked over to the table together. He gave me a box of tissues and I blew my nose and wiped my face off. 

Uncle Sam put a carton of milk in front of me. 

“I got breakfast sandwiches.” he said. “What kind do you like?”

“Sausage, egg, and cheese?” I asked hopefully. He handed me one, and I said, “Thanks.” 

“I think we need to make a new rule.” Dean told Uncle Sam. “Charlie can't leave the hotel room unless a grownup is with her.” 

 

“Okay.” Uncle Sam said, looking at me. “Thanks for letting me know.”

I squirmed, feeling embarrassed. I realized that they had probably talked about this already and that Uncle Sam knew I had been spanked. I concentrated on eating, looking at the table.

“The memorial service is later this morning.” Dean said.

“Oh, here.” Uncle Sam took something out of his pocket and put it on the table. It was a set of keys. “Bobby said you can take his truck, he's still sleeping.”

“Great.” Dean said. “We need to get ready to go soon, it takes about an hour to get there.”

After we ate, I dug through my suitcase and got out a dark blue dress, and put it on.  
I walked over to Dean. “I need you to zip me.” I said, turning around. I felt him fumbling with the zipper, and then he zipped it up.

“I hate this dress.” I grumbled.

“Why?” he asked.

“ 'Cause it's got all these ruffles and lace and stuff. And it's itchy.”

“Then why are you wearing it?” he asked.

“The secretary at Mom's work gave it to me and Mom said I had to wear it any time we went to something with work people there.” 

“Oh. Well, you only have to wear it for a couple of hours.” Dean said. “Believe me, wearing a suit isn't that comfortable either.” 

Uncle Sam came out of the bathroom, dressed in his suit, and Dean went in with his suit and closed the door.

I pulled on a pair of white tights and then slipped my feet into my Mary Janes.

I walked over to Uncle Sam. “Can you buckle my shoes?” I asked.

“Sure.” he said. Watching him trying to fasten the buckles on my shoes was funny because it made me realize how big he is, his hands looked even bigger because the buckles on my shoes were small. 

Dean came out of the bathroom, adjusting his tie, and said, “We ready to go?”

I followed him out of the room to Uncle Bobby's old car. It had a big stack of books and papers on the back seat. As Dean pulled out into traffic, I started looking at them. I love books, and a lot of these were old looking and kindof mysterious. 

“What's a loup garou?” I asked. 

“What?” Dean said.

“What is Mal-lee-us Mal-mal—ee-fic—uh--”

“Are you looking at the books in the back seat?” Dean asked, looking at me in the rear view mirror. “Put that down, right now!” 

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

“I can't ask why?” I was indignant.

“Hey, enough with the attitude.” he said sternly. “You should put the books down because I told you to, not ask why. They are Bobby's research books, and they are not suitable for kids to be looking at.” 

“Okay, fine.” I huffed, crossing my arms on my chest.

He caught my eyes in the rear view mirror. “Attitude.” he said. 

I sighed and turned to look out the window.

Dean turned on the radio and found a station that was playing classic rock. 

“That's what I'm talking about!” he said. 

“93.9 plays all the popular songs.” I told him. “It's a good station.”

“As far as I'm concerned, this is the only good music out there.” he tapped the radio.

“Classic rock?” I wrinkled my nose. “That's all my mom liked too.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Dean said.

 

 

We finally pulled into a large parking lot next to a couple of buildings that had a cemetary next to them. 

I got out of the car and started to walk away and Dean said, “Hey! You wait for me!” He held out his hand. “Always hold hands in the parking lot, you hear me?”

“Okay.” I said. 

We walked into the building and there was a sign directing us to a room with all of my mother's co-workers in it. There was music playing in the background and at the front of the room were rows of pews like a church. Dean and I stood over to the side, watching.

Miss Phyllis came over to me and hugged me. “I see you're wearing the dress I got you.” she said with a smile. “It looks so cute on you.”

“Thanks.” I said, trying to smile. 

She put her hand on my head. “I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, sweetie.”

She looked up at Dean. “I'm the secretary, Phyllis Brown.” she held her hand out to Dean.

“Dean Winchester. I'm Charlie's father.”

“Oh! Oh, I remember Liz had said she was trying to get in touch with you. I'm glad she did.” 

She drifted away after a moment and some other people walked over to us. The men shook my hand and the women hugged me, and they all said they were sorry. Then they would shake Dean's hand and chat with him for a moment. 

A man wearing a white collar came over and spoke to Dean. “After the remarks, and the Bible reading, there will be a presentation of the cremains. Are you the husband?”

“Uh, no, Charlotte is Liz's daughter.”

“All right. We're giving them to the next immediate relative.” He smiled at me and then walked away.

The music stopped playing and everyone walked over to the pews and sat down. 

My mom's boss walked up to the podium and talked about the people who had died, and what great workers they were, and how they had all been like a family. He said they were going to establish some kind of fund for all the kids. Then he walked away and the guy with the white collar read some Bible verses and we all had to bow our heads while he prayed out loud. Then organ music started playing, and he and another man started wheeling a cart down the aisle and handing something to each family.

When he got to me, he smiled and held out a plastic box.

I looked up at Dean, confused. “What is-” I started to ask, and the man pushed it at me.

“Take it.” he said.

I looked down at it. It had a sticker on it that said “Johnson Family Funeral Home and Crematorium-- Cremains of Elizabeth Angela Stansfield.”

All of a sudden, I realized what it was, it was a box full of my mom's ashes!

“EW!” I said loudly, and tried to shove the box back at him. People turned to look at me, and I heard a kid giggling.

I looked up at Dean. “I – I don't want-”

He took the box from the man and leaned down, putting it on the seat next to us. I looked at the box- that was all that was left of my mom, in a little box. I tried not to, but I couldn't help it, I started to cry. Dean put his arm around me and I turned to him and put my arms around him. He sat down in the pew and pulled me onto his lap, and I turned to him and cried onto his shirt. I felt his hand stroking my hair as I sobbed. 

After it was over, we were led outside to a patio where there were tables set out with food. 

“Are you hungry?” Dean asked me. 

“Yeah.” I said. We got in line to get some food and Dean helped me put food on my plate. It was little sandwiches and stuff like that. We walked over to the side of the patio and stood there for a few minutes eating. The police detective that we had talked to before nodded to us from across the way.

A woman approached us and leaned down to me. “Charlotte!” she said brightly. “Do you remember me, I'm your Aunt Michelle?”

She was wearing an expensive-looking suit and had lots of shiny jewelry on, and her face had a lot of makeup on it. She looked like a mannequin at a store, and I knew, the way that I know things sometimes, that it was all fake, that she did all of that to hide who she really was.

“Uh...no.” I said, stepping close to Dean. He put his arm around my shoulder. 

She straightened and held out her hand to him. “Hello, I'm Liz's sister. Michelle Tyler. And you're Charlotte's...father?” 

“Dean Winchester.” Dean said, shaking her hand. 

“Well, I have to tell you, I'm so sorry, sweetie.” she said to me. “What are you going to do with yourself now?”

“She's coming to live with me.” Dean said. “Liz and I arranged things before.”

“Oh, did you?” Her voice was frosty, and she cocked her eyebrow at Dean. 

“Wouldn't you rather come and live with me, sweetie? I've got two adorable yorkies, and an inground pool, and you'd have your own bedroom and playroom!” She tried to make her voice sound happy, but it sounded like she was trying too hard.

“Look, she told me about you.” Dean said.

“Excuse me?” Her voice was total ice now. 

“She told me about you, said you'd come here and do this. Charlotte is not going to go with you, she's my daughter, and my name is on her birth certificate. I think you'll find that the courts give a child to an immediate blood relative and not a long lost aunt.”

“Well, I wasn't saying-- I mean, I just thought that after all these years, to have a part of my sister--”

“Who you rarely wanted to deal with before?” Dean's voice was deep with anger. “She told me how you shut her out, how you walked away again and again when she asked for help. She said you'd come back after she was gone, sniffing around for money. She told me to tell you that the inheritance? It's gone. All gone, used up to pay for raising her kid and for paying for all the cancer treaments. There's nothing left, so you can go back to whatever number husband you're on now and just stay with him.”

Michelle tightened her lips and her face flushed red with anger. She glared at him for a long moment. 

“Well, I don't think I've ever been spoken to in this manner before-- I-- I-- I guess I'll see you in court.” She turned and stalked away from us.

I looked up at Dean. “What does she mean? Is she-- is she going to try and take me away from you?”

“No, she can't do that.” He told me, shaking his head. 

“I don't want to go with her!” and I realized how scared I felt. I put my arms around his waist and buried my head in his side, and started crying again. 

I felt his hand on the back of my head, and then he led me over to a bench. He sat down and put me onto his lap, and I cried onto his shirt again. Something clicked inside me and I realized that Dean was my Dad, and that I did want to stay with him. Since the night I had met him, I had felt scared sometimes, but I realized that I felt safe with him and Uncle Sam and like I was going to be okay. 

I looked up at him, and he looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.

“You're my Dad.” I said, my voice full of tears.

“Yeah, kid, I am.” he said,and his voice sounded rough.

I put my head back down on his chest and closed my eyes, tears still sliding down my face. We sat and snuggled for a few minutes on the bench.

Someone walked over to us and said something to Dean.

“Charlie,” he said to me. “I've got to talk to this man for a few minutes, want to go over and play on the playground?”

I sat up. “Okay.” I sniffled.

He took a bandana out of his pocket and wiped my face off, then he smiled at me.   
“Go on, I'll be right here. I'll come get you when we're done.”

I got off of his lap and walked over to the playground where there were other kids playing. There was a boy, a little bigger than me, dressed in a jacket and tie, who kept following me around. When I tried to go up the ladder to the slide, he pushed ahead of me and pushed me down and went up first. He got in front of me at the monkey bars, and then I thought I got rid of him at the swings. I was swinging back and forth, closing my eyes, when all of a sudden, someone dragged on the chain of the swing.

I opened my eyes and it was the boy, glaring at me.

“My turn.” he said.

“Go swing on one of the other swings.” I said.

“I want this one, I always swing on the end one.” he said. “Get off.”

“No!” I said, trying to pull away from him. 

“Yes!” He pulled on the chain again.

“You get off!” I exclaimed.

“Mikey, leave her alone.” A little girl said uncertainly.

“Shut up, brat! Go away!” He turned to the little girl and shouted at her.

“My dad's dead, so you should let me have what I want.” He said to me.

“So is my mom!” I retorted. “Leave off, Mikey!”

His face became enraged, and he lunged at me. The next moment, I was on my back, the air knocked out of me, with him on top of me, hitting me again and again.

Pain was exploding in my face and chest as his hands slapped down at me.I put my hands up to try and stop him. 

“Ow, quit it! Get offa me! Stop!” I kept saying, as tears started pouring down the sides of my face.

Then all of a sudden we were surrounded by people. 

Hands were helping me sit up. “Are you okay, little girl?” someone said.

“Where's my Dad? “ I cried out. I looked around and saw Dean running over, followed by Uncle Sam. 

“Dad!” I called out, lifting my arms up, and he went down on one knee and lifted me up to stand. “It's all right, I've got you.” he said softly. He hugged me to him, then pulled back and looked at me. “What happened, kiddo?”

“That-- that boy, he kept following me around, and cutting in front of me...he pushed me off of the ladder for the slide, and he got in front of me, and then he told me to get off the swing... and when Isaid no he just jumped on me and started hitting me!”   
I started crying harder.

“Michael John Anderson!”I heard a woman's voice say. “What do you have to say for yourself!” 

The boy muttered something, staring at the ground. 

“What did you say, young man? You need to apologize to this little girl!” A woman in a dark blue suit grabbed the boy's arm.

“She was in my way!” he snapped. “She kept following me around!”

“That's a lie!” I said.

“It is a lie.” said the little girl. “He was bein' mean to her the whole time.”

“Shut up, Lacey, you little liar! I'm gonna kick your ass!” the boy yelled. A couple of the adults gasped.

“Michael!” The woman said. “That is enough!”

“Seems like Michael's the one who needs to have his ass kicked...or at the very least, swatted.” Dean said dryly.

“I don't need parenting advice from you, thank you.” the woman said stiffly.

“Let's go, Charlie.” Dean said to me.

He stood up, and then picked me up. Uncle Sam fell into step beside us as we walked. 

“You okay, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked me. “We should check her over and make sure she's not injured.”

“I'm okay, he mostly slapped me.” I said. “My back hurts a little bit.”

“What a little shit that kid was.” Dean muttered. 

We walked back into the building and Dean stopped to pick up the box of ashes.

“Do I really need to keep that?” I asked hesitantly. “It's kinda gross.”

“Let's keep it for now, you might want it later.” Dean said. 

“I've got to go talk to the M.E. Again.” Uncle Sam told us. “I'll see you in a while.”

I got into the back of Uncle Bobby's car again, and I couldn't resist looking at one of the books. They looked like books that had been in the Harry Potter movies. I flipped the top one open and it had very old-fashioned looking writing in it. There was a drawing on the page opposite, in full color, of a man with a wolf's head holding another man. The wolf had an arm in its mouth and the chest of the man it held was open and bloody. The red was very red in the picture. There was a pool of blood underneath both men and they were in the woods. I swallowed uneasily and closed the book quickly, looking away. It made me think of the night my mom had died. 

 

The whole rest of the day I kept thinking about the picture. That was why Dean had said not to look at those books. And I had disobeyed him, and now I was upset. I wanted to say something but I was nervous that he would be mad at me and I would get in trouble.   
They ordered Chinese food for dinner and we ate it in the room with Uncle Bobby. 

When Dean told me it was time for me to get ready for bed, I didn't argue. I was tired, but I was also anxious about trying to fall asleep. I gave both Uncle Sam and Uncle Bobby hugs, and then went over to the sofa bed where Dean was waiting. 

I got into bed and he hugged me. “You had a big day today, kiddo.” he said. “You should sleep well.” 

I laid down and he pulled the covers up and then leaned over and kissed my forehead.

“Good night, Charlie.” he said quietly. He got up and walked into the other part of the room. I rolled over and tried to sleep, but I kept seeing the picture in my head, and then hearing the noises outside the tent that I heard the night my mom died. 

I rolled onto my back, then a couple minutes later onto my side, then onto my stomach. 

Finally I sat up. “Dean, could you come here?” I called hesitantly. 

He walked over to me, holding a beer bottle. “Sure, what's up?” He looked at me and sat down, a concerned look on his face. “You look upset.”

“I, uh, have something to tell you.” I gathered the blanket in my hands and bunched it up. 

“Yeeees?” he said slowly. I glanced up at him and he was looked at me sternly.

“You know how you told me not to look at those books in the back of the car?” I said in a whisper, fiddling with the edge of the blanket now. 

“Yes.” he said again.

“Well, uh, I, uh, did, I mean I looked again...when we got back in the car to go home...and I saw a picture...”

He took a sip of his beer. I glanced up at him again. He didn't look mad, just serious. 

“It was a drawing of a man with a wolf head eating another man and it was all red with blood and I keep thinking about it and it makes me think of-- of Mommy!” I wailed,  
bursting into tears. 

“Oh, Charlie.” he sighed, and put his arms around me. I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his flannel.

“I'm sorry, Dean, I didn't listen to you and I should have, and I promise I'll never do that again!” I sobbed. I turned my face up to him. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, I think you've punished yourself this time.” He stroked my hair back from my face. “You understand now why I told you not to look at those books?”

“Y-yes Dean.” I sniffled.

“And you're not going to do it again?”

I shook my head back and forth. “Uh-uh!”

“Then I think you've learned your lesson.” he said. 

“Will you stay with me till I fall asleep?” I asked him. 

“Sure.” he said. “Lay down and I'll rub your back.”

I laid down and turned onto my tummy and he started to rub my back slowly. It took a while, but I started to calm down and doze.

Dean's phone rang and he answered it. “Hey, I've been trying to get in touch with you.”  
he said, standing up and walking to the door. “Yeah, I've got something to tell you.” he was saying as he went outside.

I was almost asleep when I heard the door open again. 

“By the look on your face, I'm going to guess it didn't go well.” Uncle Sam said  
quietly. I woke up all the way and started listening hard. Who had Dean been talking to?

“Yeah...she asleep?” Dean asked.

“I haven't heard a peep out of her since you left the room.” Uncle Sam told him.

Dean sighed heavily. “Well, first I got the standard 'Keep It In Your Pants' lecture, then he expressed his...displeasure...at the fact that I now have a kid, and she's with me. He wanted to know how I was going to handle the hunting life with her tagging along. He reminded me that I'm a damn fine hunter and that I've been in this life for a long time.” I heard the fridge door open and close, then the sound of a beer bottle being opened.

“What are you supposed to do, just walk away from her?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Right,” Dean agreed. “That's what I said, she's my blood and I can't just walk away. Family's important to him too, I don't know why he's so opposed.”

“ 'Cause he knows how hard the life was on you boys, when you were kids.” Uncle Bobby said.

“Anyway, he asked if there were any other relatives that she could go to. There's no way in hell I'm letting Liz's sister take her...I told him no. He wanted to know if I'd thought about long-term plans and what was I gonna do with her, and I tried to explain everything. I mean, maybe if I'd had a chance to get to know her over a couple of months I could have worked something out, somehow, but the way Liz's death happened, Charlie kinda fell into my lap. I told him that I hadn't thought about long term yet because we're still dealing with the death and everything. And since I got made the executor of the estate, I've got to stay here until all the legal stuff gets finished. He wasn't too happy about that either, but what are you gonna do?” 

“He'll get over it.” Uncle Sam said.

“Yeah, I guess. He's on his way to help, I figured the more people we get to track this thing, the better.” 

“Give him time.” Uncle Bobby said. “He needs time to get used to the idea. Hell, if someone came to me and told me I was a grandfather out of the blue, I'd be feelin' a little off-kilter myself.”

So Dean had been talking to his father, my grandfather. And his father didn't think I should be here with him. I hoped he wasn't mean to me when we finally met, because I wasn't sure how I would deal with that. Thinking about meeting him now made me even more nervous that I already was.


	6. Chapter 6

I didn't sleep well that night, I kept waking up. They sat at the table talking, and their laughing woke me up once. Then I woke up suddenly and realized the room was quiet. I couldn't hear any talking or even movement. I sat up and looked around-- I was alone! I got out of bed and walked around the divider.

“Dean?” I said hesitantly. “Uncle Sam?” I walked over to the bathroom door, which was open. No-one was in there either. Then I noticed that the room door wasn't closed all the way. I felt nervous-- had something happened?

I walked over to the door and opened it. They were standing outside the room, and Dean and Uncle Sam were leaning on the car. They all had bottles of beer in their hands, and they looked at me when I opened the door. 

“I woke up alone!” I exclaimed, looking at Dean. “I didn't know where you were, I thought something happened!” And then I burst into tears, and felt embarrassed. Dean walked over to me and picked me up, carrying me inside and closing the door.

“I'm sorry.” he said. “We moved outside so that we didn't bother you, you were very restless and we didn't want to keep waking you up.” 

He put me down on the bed and sat on the edge. 

“It scared me!” I said, scooting closer to him.

“I'm sorry.” he repeated. “You're safe, and it's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. Lay down.” 

I clung to his chest. “I don't want to go back to sleep.” I whined. “I keep having bad dreams and waking up.”

“Well, you need to try and sleep, Charlie.” he said. “If you get scared in the middle of the night, come get me, okay?” He tried to move away from me.

“Nooo!” I whined, grabbing onto his arms. 

“Charlie--” he sighed, sounding annoyed. “Let go.”

“But I'm scared now!” 

“There's nothing to be scared of.” 

“Please stay with me again? Pleeeeease?” I begged. 

He sighed again. “All right. Lay down.”

“No, can I—can I sit with you?” I asked hesitantly. I climbed into his lap before he answered and slid my arms around his middle. He sighed again and then leaned down to put his bottle on the floor. Then he sat up and put his arms around me, and started rubbing my back again. I eventually drifted off back to sleep. 

 

I was in the tent, in my sleeping bag. Mom was laying next to me and Dean was on the other side of her. I started to hear growling and crashing sounds outside the tent, and then suddenly the tent was ripped open and a huge wolf came in, and grabbed my Mom in its mouth. There was red blood everywhere and I heard crunching sounds as the wolf chewed her bones. Then it turned to Dean and jumped on him, and I could hear screaming--

“Mommy! Daddy!” I screamed. I opened my eyes and Dean was right there, holding me. “The wolf ate you!” I sobbed, grabbing on to his t-shirt. 

“Shh, I'm right here,” Dean said soothingly. “You're safe, nothing's going to hurt you.” He picked me up and carried me over to his bed, and then sat down with me in his lap. I was clinging to him like a monkey. The dream had seemed so real. 

I turned my head and rested it on his chest, and he started humming something softly. He kept stroking my hair back from my face and humming, and after a long time, I fell asleep again. 

 

I woke up hearing the shower running. I was still in Dean's bed, alone. I sat up and stretched, and then I flopped back down onto the bed. I felt tired. I heard the shower go off. A couple minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Uncle Sam came out. He looked over and saw that I was awake.

“Good morning.” he said. “Your dad went to get some breakfast.”

“I'm in the mood for pancakes.” I said.

“Well, I don't think that's what he's getting. Did you sleep okay?”  
“No, I kept waking up.” I sighed. 

“You should get dressed.” 

“I don't want to.” I said.

Uncle Sam shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

I rolled over and started dozing, waking up again when I heard the hotel room door open. 

Dean came in with a paper bag and a drink carrier. He set everything down on the table and looked over at me. “You awake, Charlie?”

“Yeah.” I mumbled. I got up and went over to the table.

“I got bagels this morning.” he said. 

“I wanted pancakes.” I sat down next to him.

“Maybe tomorrow.” Dean said. “I've got to go talk to the lawyer today. Do you want to come with me, or stay here with Uncle Sam?”

“I want to go with you.” I said. 

“Do you want cream cheese on your bagel?” Dean asked me. 

“Uh, yeah.” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes and yawning. 

He spread some cream cheese on a bagel and put it in front of me on a napkin.

“Thanks!” I said, and smiled at him. I wasn't used to somebody else fixing my breakfast for me. Usually I got myself a bowl of cereal or made some toast.

“Our Dad is coming to help us, he'll be here in a couple of days, so you'll get to meet him.” Dean told me.

“Oh.” I said. I didn't want to say anything about having overheard his conversation last night. 

“That's all you have to say is, oh?” Dean looked at me. 

“What if he doesn't like me?” I said uncertainly.

“I'm sure he'll like you.” Dean said. “Don't be nervous.” He crumpled up his napkin. “Go get dressed now.”

I got up and walked over to my suitcase, and got out the shirt and shorts I had been wearing for the past couple of days. 

“Bring me your hairbrush, and I'll brush your hair.” Uncle Sam said to me from across the room. 

“Okay.” I said, as I pulled off my pajama top. I picked up the t-shirt, and Uncle Sam came over to me. 

“Charlie, you've worn that same shirt every day since we picked you up. It's dirty, you should wear something else.”

I grabbed the shirt and held it to my chest. “No!” I said resolutely.

“Why not?” Uncle Sam asked. “What's so special about this shirt?”

“It-- it's the one I was wearing at the campsite, and it smells like the wood fire, and it makes me think of being happy there. Before-- you know...” I explained, and tears filled my eyes. 

“Oh, honey.” Uncle Sam said gently, and he put his arm around my shoulder. “You can't keep wearing the same thing over and over.”

“But I want to!” I whined, pulling away from him. 

“Why don't we put the shirt in a plastic bag, and that way it will keep the smell, and you can have it that way.” he suggested. 

“It will?” I looked up at him.

He nodded. “I'll take your clothes and put them in a bag for you to save.”

“Okay.” I said, wiping my eyes. I handed him the shirt and shorts, and then picked out a different outfit- a big shirt with Hello Kitty riding a bike on it, and matching bike shorts. I got dressed, and then went to the bathroom to get my brush. I walked over to Uncle Sam and handed it to him, and then turned around.

“Your hair gets tangled easily.” he said as he eased the brush through my hair. 

“Yeah, Mommy always said that mice came and made a nest in my hair every night.” I said, smiling at the memory. 

After a couple of minutes, Uncle Sam handed me the brush back. “All done.”

“You ready to go?” Dean asked me.

“I just need to get my shoes on.” I said. I bent down and started to pull them on, then said, “Uh oh.”

“What? What's wrong?” Dean asked, coming over to me.

I held my foot up. My big toe was now poking through a hole in the toe of my tennis shoe. 

“We can go out and get you some new shoes later.” Dean said easily. 

“Good, 'cause these are too small anyways.” I said.

“Why didn't you say anything?” he asked. 

“With Mom being sick, she couldn't take me out shopping, and Aunt Janice was too busy to come over a lot and take me out.” I said. “My toes are crunched, but it doesn't hurt too bad.”

“Are all of your shoes too small?” Dean looked at me.

“Yeah, pretty much.” I shrugged. 

“Okay, we'll buy you some shoes that fit after we go to the lawyer's, and then we can get some lunch, how's that?”

“Okay!” I smiled up at him. 

As we walked to the car, I took his hand, and he opened the back door for me and then closed it once I was in the back. 

I walked with Dean into a big tall building, and we rode an elevator up several floors. The elevator opened onto a long, shiny hallway with lots of doors and lots of big paintings of stern-looking men wearing long black robes. 

We walked a long ways down the hallway and Dean opened one of the doors. We were in an office.

“Dean Winchester to see Eric Llewellan.” Dean told the lady at the front desk.

“Have a seat please.” she told him. I followed Dean over to some chairs and we sat down. I swung my feet and looked around, then I got up and walked over to a table that had a bunch of magazines on it. They were magazines for things like golf and fishing. “Bor-ing!” I said quietly. 

“Come over here,” Dean said to me. “Sit down.” 

“They don't have anything for kids to do.” I said. 

“Well, they probably don't get a lot of kids in here.” Dean said. “Be patient.” 

A door opened and a man in a suit came out and Dean stood up. They shook hands, and then the man ushered us into an office with a long table. I sat next to Dean in a chair that moved, and I started spinning in it. 

Dean put his hand on the arm of the chair. “No.” he said, looking at me. “Sit still, would you?”

“Would you like some water?” the man asked me. He got a bottle of water out of a small fridge, and handed it to me.

“Thank you.” I said. I tried to open it, and I couldn't.

I tapped Dean's arm. “Could you open this please?” I asked him. He took it from me and opened it, then handed it back to me and turned back to the lawyer.

I looked around the room as the man opened up a folder and spread some papers out on the table. Dean leaned forward and they both started talking about things like “estate taxes”. I hadn't brought my 3DS or anything to do, and I started to get bored. I pushed on the table leg with my foot, turning the chair back and forth. 

Dean glanced over at me. “I told you to sit still!” he whispered, frowning at me.

“Sorry.” I ducked my head and tried my best to sit quietly. I drank some more water.

I moved closer to Dean and leaned my head on his arm. He looked down at me at first, but he let me keep my head there for a while. Then he moved his arm and patted my head. “I've got to sign some papers, you need to sit up.” he told me.

I looked around at the ugly brown paneled walls. There was a calendar with a photograph of a waterfall on it on one wall, and a painting of a beach and ocean on another wall. I tried to imagine what it would be like at the beach, and then Dean turned to look at me with a stern look on his face. 

“Stop kicking the table.” he whispered. I realized I had been kicking the table leg and hadn't even noticed that I was doing it. 

I leaned over and put my head down on the table for a while, and then Dean touched my shoulder. 

“I need for you to wait outside for a few minutes while I talk to the lawyer.” he said. I got up and followed him out to the waiting room. He pointed at the chair I had been sitting in before. 

“Sit down right here and wait for me.” he told me. Then he went back into the office and the door closed. I swung my legs again, then I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I got up and walked over to the receptionist.

“Scuse me, do you have a bathroom?” I asked timidly. 

“No, sorry. Go out to the hallway, it's the last door on the right.” she said.  
“Okay. Can you tell De- my Dad that I went to the bathroom when he comes out?” I asked her. 

“Sure.” She smiled at me. 

I went out into the hallway and found the bathroom. Drinking water always makes me have to pee a lot. The bathroom was very fancy and had a little dish of potpourri on the counter next to the sink.. I dried my hands off and walked back down the hallway. 

The hallway was so long, and so shiny, I got an idea. I took my shoes off and ran down the hall, and then used my socks to slide on the linoleum at the end. When Aunt Janice had taken me to church with her, some of the kids there had shown me how to do this with the hallway in the basement of the church. 

I ran and slid again, and ran and slid. It was fun! 

The door to the office opened, and Dean came out, carrying a folder. 

“Charlie!” he called up the hall. 

“Watch, Dean!” I ran towards him and slid the last several feet. 

He grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. “What the hell, little girl?” he growled. He looked annoyed. 

“Why are you out here!” He gave my arm a shake.

“I hadda go to the bathroom!”I protested. “I told the lady at the desk to tell you!” 

“Well, she wasn't there when I came out, and neither were you!”

“Sor-ry!” I said. He let go of my arm.

“Excuse me?” he glared down at me. “You want to try that again?”

I blushed, and looked down at my feet. “Sorry.” I muttered. 

He looked at me for a long moment, rubbing his chin, then he said decisively, “You're going to bed early tonight.”

“What?” I yelped. “ Why?”

“You disobeyed me, little girl. And that's your consequence. You broke a rule too, no going off on your own.” 

“But- I don't want to go to bed early!” I stomped my foot.

“Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to go off and do your own thing.”

“That's not fair! I had to go pee!” I protested.

“And then you had to go running up and down the hallway in your sock feet? Instead of coming to let me know you were going to the restroom, and then coming right back in?”

I blushed again. I had nothing to say to that, so I said, “You're mean!”

He leaned down to me. “You don't get to do what you want, kid. You need to do what I tell you to do. Now put your shoes on and let's go.”

I glared up at him and huffed.

He took my hand after I slipped my shoes onto my feet. 

We walked back to the car, and then he asked, “Are you hungry now, or do you want to go buy shoes first?”

I bounced on the seat, excited to go shopping. “Shoes first!” I said. I hoped that we could find some Hello Kitty tennis shoes. 

Unfortunately, they were out of my size. The store had Hello Kitty tennis shoes and slip ons, but they were all too small. As it turns out, my feet had grown two sizes since I had last gotten shoes. 

“Here, try these on.” Dean held up a pair of sparkly pink tennis shoes.

“I don't want them, I wanted the Hello Kitty ones!” I said forlornly.

“I know, but they don't have them in your size. Try these.” 

“O—kay...” I said dejectedly. I sat down and put them on.

“How is that?” he asked. 

“Fine.” I said, standing up. He bent down and pressed my toe. “Is there room for your toes now, they're not squished?”

“No, it's okay.” I said. “Can I get some sandals too?”

“All right.” Dean rubbed his hand over his face. “Which ones are you looking at?”

I pulled a pair off of the rack that had sparkly flowers on them.

“That's not your size.” Dean told me. “You need 7s. It doens't look like they have any.”

I sat down heavily on the floor. “That's not faaaair!” I whined. “They don't have anything that I like!” I kicked my feet against the floor. I felt like crying in frustration.

Dean sighed. “Well, what do you want to do?” 

“I want to get the ones that I want!” I said angrily. 

Dean turned and walked away from me suddenly, and stood at the end of the aisle, facing away from me. I saw him sigh heavily again, and then he came back over to me and squatted down in front of me.

“All right, look,” he said patiently. “Let's get the tennis shoes that you like, and we can get some other shoes later. You're tired, and we need to eat lunch.”

“I'm not tired!” I snapped, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

“You're cranky, and I'm guessing it's because you didn't sleep well last night.” He stood up and offered me his hand. “Come on, get up.”

I let him pull me up. “I'm not tired!” I insisted. “Or cranky!”

“Okay, fine, I'm not going to argue.” he said. He bent down and picked up the box with the shoes. “Come on.” 

I walked with him to the checkout line. His phone rang, and it was Uncle Sam. “Hey, Sam, what's up? We're at the store buying shoes now... I'm drowing in paperwork, we went over all these documents and I've got more to fill out and bring back to the guy. This legal shi-- stuff is never ending, man! We've got beer in the room, right? 'Cause I'm going to need a couple tonight. Do you need me to bring you back some lunch? Okay, see you later.” 

Dean hung up his phone and put it in his pocket, then rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. He looked down at me and smiled. “At least you found one pair that fits, right?”

We stopped at a deli on the way back and got sandwiches to take to the room. Dean said that Uncle Sam was out with Uncle Bobby. 

I sat at the table and watched as Dean opened the folder that he had brought from the lawyer's office. He glanced at the top paper, and then closed the folder.  
“Nope,” he said. “I'm taking a break. No more paperwork right now. I'm going to enjoy my lunch.” He pushed the folder to the side and pulled his sub in front of him. 

I ate most of my sub and chips, and then looked at him. “Can I be done? I want to go play on the playground.”

He leaned over and looked at my food. “You sure you're not still hungry? Wrap that up and you can finish it later then.”

I wrapped the rest of the sub up. “Can I go to the playground now?”

“I want you to take a nap, Charlie.” Dean said. 

“I don't want to!” I whined, folding my arms on my chest. “I'm not a little kid that needs a nap!”

“Well, like I said, you were very restless last night and didn't sleep well, and you're cranky today because of that.”

“I am not!” I frowned at him.

“Yes, you are.” Dean leaned towards me, looking at me intently.

“No I'm not!” I kicked the rungs of my chair.

“Look, we're not going to do this. I want you to go lay down on your bed for a while, even if you don't sleep.”

“Can I read?”

“No, lay there with your eyes closed.”

“I don't WANT to!” I shouted. I stood up and clenched my fists. “This is dumb! I don't want to be in a hotel room any more with you! I want to go home!”

“Charlie...” Dean said. He rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment.

“I want to go home, and I want to be with my mom!” Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I missed her. I missed being in our apartment. I missed being able to do what I wanted.

“Charlie, you know that can't happen.” Dean said, with regret on his face. “You're tired--”

“I AM NOT!” I screamed, stomping my feet. “Well, I'm tired of you, always telling me what to do!” I ran towards him and pushed his chest. It didn't do anything, he barely moved. I forgot what a brick wall Dean was. 

Dean took my hands. “Charlie, stop it.” he said in a warning tone. “I'm not going to let you raise your voice to me or push me like that.”

I tried to pull away from him, but he held on to me. “Get off!” I snapped. “I hate you!” I tried to kick his shin.

He pulled me close to him and leaned down to me. “Stop. It. Right. Now.” he said in a slow, hard voice. “I know you're tired and you're upset, but that doesn't mean you can be nasty to people. And I'm about two seconds from hauling you over my knee.” 

“Lemme go!” I jerked away from him and he wasn't expecting it, and I got one hand free. He grabbed for me again, and stood up quickly, pushing his chair back. He picked me up around the waist and carried me over to my bed, then plunked me down on it. 

I started to get off of the bed and he took my arm. “No, little girl.” he said. “Lay down.”   
“Noooo!”I whined. I pulled my arm, but he wouldn't let go. He tried to make me lay down, and I resisted.

“Charlie, enough.” he said loudly. “You need to lay down now.” He let go of my arm and stood up. “Listen to me and do what I tell you.” He sounded frustrated.

I got off of the bed again, and he grabbed my arms, and sat me on the bed. 

“Do you want a spanking?” he asked in a hard voice. “Because that's what's going to happen if you get off of this bed again!” We glared at each other for a long moment, and then I dropped my eyes. I did not want him to spank me, so I laid down. He leaned over and pulled my covers up.

“Close your eyes.” he said. “Rest.” 

I laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling, sure I wasn't going to fall asleep... and then someone was shaking my arm.

Dean was sitting on the edge of my bed. “Charlie, it's almost dinner time, you need to wake up.” he said. “And I want to talk to you.” 

I sat up and looked at him, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. 

“I know you were tired and grumpy before, but you can't keep saying things like you hate me. It's a hurtful thing to say, and I don't think you want to be hurtful, do you?”

I looked down at my hands and blushed. I hadn't thought of it that way. “No.” I said quietly.

“And the hitting and pushing and kicking needs to stop.” he said firmly. 

I felt guilty then. I didn't even realize I was doing those things, I just did them.   
“Sorry.” I whispered. 

“One more thing. When I tell you to do something, you need to do it, understand?  
No more of this fighting and screaming. I'm not going to keep giving you as many chances as I have been, because you should know better. And if it keeps up, I'm going to get more strict with you.” 

“How?” I glanced up at him.

“I'll tell you to do something once and that's it. And if you don't do it, you'll get a consequence.” 

“Okay.” I said. “I'm sorry.” I said sincerely.

“Come here.” he said, and pulled me into a hug. “I know this is hard for you, and I'm sorry. We have to be in this hotel for now because of the legal stuff that's happening with your mother's estate. I have to wait until it's finished.”

“When will that be?” I asked.

“I don't know.” he sighed. “Maybe in a week?”

The hotel room door opened and Uncle Sam came in. 

“How did it go today?” he asked, coming over to the bed.

“We found one pair of shoes.” Dean told him. “Apparently her feet grew two sizes since she last bought shoes!” 

“Wow.” Uncle Sam said. He was holding a bag, and he reached in and pulled a book out. He held it out to me.

“I know you said that you had only read the first four Harry Potter books, so I got the fifth one. I thought we could read it out loud together at bed time.”

I took the book and looked at it. “Cool! Thanks, Uncle Sam!” I got off the bed and hugged him, and he hugged me and patted my back. Then I turned to Dean.  
“Thanks for taking me to get shoes. Sorry I got fussy.” 

“You're welcome, kiddo.” Dean said, smiling at me. He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed them. 

 

At 7:30, Dean said to me, “It's time for you to get ready for bed.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. 

“Remember, I told you that you were going to bed half an hour early.” he said, giving me a look.

“But you said my bedtime is at 8:30!” 

“Get ready now, so that you can go to bed at 8 o'clock.”

I folded my arms. “But one of my shows is on tonight!” I complained. ”You said I could watch my shows that I watched with Mom!”

“What show is it?” Dean asked me.

“It's called College Town.”

“College Town?” Uncle Sam said, looking at Dean. 

“Yeah, it's about a bunch of college students living in a house together.” I explained.

“I've heard of it, it's one of those reality tv shows.” Uncle Sam said. “You shouldn't  
be watching it.”

“Why not? Mommy let me watch it!” I stomped my foot and stuck my tongue out at his back. 

“For one thing, it's on really late. For another, it's not appropriate.”

“You're not 'propriate!” I retorted, glaring at him. “What does that mean anyway?”

“It means that it's a show for grown-ups, with grown-up things happening, and kids shouldn't be watching it.” Uncle Sam said in a firm voice. “And you need to watch your mouth.” He looked at me sternly. “It's on pretty late at night, didn't you say that your mother usually fell asleep early in the evening?”

Dean turned to look at me. They both were watching me, and I squirmed, because they had caught me in a lie. 

“Some- sometimes she would watch it with me, if she was awake...” I said quietly, looking down at the floor. 

“You're not telling the truth, are you?” Dean came over to me and leaned down to look me in the face. “She was asleep when you were watching it, wasn't she?”

I stared at my feet and traced the pattern in the rug with the toe of my shoe.

“Answer me.” Dean said in a hard voice.

“Uh, yeah.” I whispered.

“And she probably wouldn't have let you watch it if she knew, would she?” He straightened up and put his hands on his hips. “So you were lying. That is a big no-no, little girl.” He looked over at Uncle Sam. “We need to have a talk about consequences for lying, later.”

“Okay.” Uncle Sam said to him.

“You're not watching it.” Dean said flatly, pointing to my bed. “Go get ready for bed.”

“But- but—I'm used to watching the show!” I protested, tears coming to my eyes. 

“Well, not any more.” Dean said. “If Sam says it's not appropriate, then that's good enough for me.”

I was embarrassed that they had caught me in a lie, and I was frustrated too! “You're meeeeaaan!” I wailed, and I ran into the bathroom and slammed the door. I pushed the button in the doorknob to lock it and sat down on the edge of the tub. 

A couple minutes later there was a knock on the door. “Charlie, what are you doing? Are you actually going to the bathroom?” Dean asked.

“Go away!” I called. If they weren't going to let me watch my show, I was just going to stay in here until my actual bedtime. The door was locked, they could not get me out of here!

“If you're in there sulking, you need to come out now.”

“Go AWAY!” I called louder. 

“No, Charlie, you need to come out and get ready for bed.” Dean said. I saw the doorknob jiggle. “Little girl, unlock this door right now!” he said angrily.

“NO!” I shouted. “Leave me alone!”

“If I have to unlock this door, you're going to be in a lot of trouble.” he said.

“You can't unlock it, you don't have a key!” I said. 

“Last chance, Charlie.” Dean said. “Give it to me, Sam.” I saw the doorknob jiggling again, and then it turned with a pop, and the door swung open. I stood up and got into the tub.

Dean stood in the doorway with a little tool in his hand. “I know how to pick locks, so I can unlock the door. Get out of there.”

I just glared at him. He put the tool in his pocket, and then walked towards me and grabbed me up. He turned and carried me out of the bathroom, and I balled up my fists and hit his arms and kicked my feet. 

He sat down on the end of his bed and stood me in front of him, holding on to my upper arms. “What did I say earlier, Charlie? I told you no more hitting and kicking. I told you no more fighting and screaming at me when I tell you to do something. Why do you think it's okay to keep doing those things?”

I tried to pull away from him. “Stoooop!” I whined. “Lemme go!” I turned my head to look at the floor. 

“No, little girl. You don't get to run away and hide just because you don't like something. You have to follow the rules now.”

“I hate your rules!” I tried to twist out of his grasp. 

He pulled me close to him. “Charlotte Anne Winchester, look at me.” he said in a deep, angry voice. He let go of my arm and took my chin in his hand and made me look at him.

“You will not say that again, do you hear me? I already talked to you about that today too. Did everything I said earlier just go in one ear and out the other?”

“I don't like having all these rules and you telling me what to do!” I yelled.

“You still have to follow them and do what I say.”

“No I don't!” He had relaxed his hold on me, and I jerked away from him, and got my arm free. I turned and made a dash for the door, and had opened it and started to run down the sidewalk, when large arms circled my waist and picked me up effortlessly.

It was Uncle Sam, of course. “Get it together, young lady, this is unacceptable behavior!” he scolded.

“No!” I shrieked, hitting and kicking him. “Put me dooooowwwnn!”

He carried me back into the room, kicking the door shut with his foot. He walked over to Dean, who was still sitting on the end of the bed, and put me down on the floor in front of him again. Then Uncle Sam walked over to the door and put the chain on, watching me.

Dean took ahold of my shoulders and shook me. “That is ENOUGH!” His voice raised to a yell, and I flinched, my eyes going wide. I hadn't heard him raise his voice like that before.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me. His face was stern, but his eyes looked tired. 

“I am too damned frustrated and worn out to deal with this crap tonight.” he muttered, almost to himself. He let go of one arm, turned me to the side, and then landed a series of hard swats on my rear.

“Ow, Dean, ow, stop, OW!” I cried out, trying to hop away as his hand fell on my butt. Tears came to my eyes as he gave me a couple of harder swats, and then he released my arm. I stumbled backwards, reaching back to rub the sting out of my sore butt. 

“Go get ready for bed.” he said, and his voice was tired-sounding. I turned and trudged to the bathroom, not looking at myself in the mirror as I did my nightly routine. I was crying a little, and I felt bad for all the misbehaving I had done.

When I came out of the bathroom, Dean was standing over by the kitchen area, and he was drinking an amber liquid out of a glass. I walked around the room divider to what I thought of as “my area” and changed into my pjs. 

Dean came over to me as I was starting to walk back around the divider.

“I'm sorry, Dean! I'm sorry I was bad!” I said, and I started to cry. He bent down and picked me up and hugged me, then sat down on my bed. I threw my arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder.

“Hey, it's okay. You're all right. I'm sorry too. It was a rough day for both of us today.” he said quietly, rubbing the back of my head. He gave me a squeeze, and then set me on the bed. Uncle Sam came over and leaned down to hug me. 

“Tomorrow is a new day.” he said. “Good night.”

Dean stood up and I reached my hand up and grabbed his hand. “Dean?” 

“Yeah?” he leaned down to me again.

“Can I practice calling you Dad sometimes?”

He smiled at me, and brushed my hair back from my forehead. “Sure.” he said. “I'd like that.”  
“Okay.” I turned on my side. “Good night, Dad.” I said, and he leaned down and kissed my forehead. 

“Good night.” he said as he stood up, pulling the covers up. I closed my eyes and he walked around the divider. 

I had started to doze when I heard the little refrigerator door slam shut, and it woke me up. Sam and Dean were sitting at the table talking.

“Sam, I don't know if I can do this.” I heard Dean say in a low voice. “It was really hard today...I almost lost it. Between dealing with all the legal stuff, and then her being bored, and cranky... she can't help it, she's a kid, but I...I just don't have any experience. I feel like I'm in over my head.”

“Well, it's new for all of us.” Uncle Sam said quietly. “We knew there were going to be bumps in the road. “

“I tried to be more lenient today, I felt bad after I spanked her yesterday, but I don't know if I did the right thing.” Dean sighed heavily. “And then she just kept pushing and pushing, and I ended up swatting her ass anyway.”

“She needs boundaries and rules, she had nothing like that. It will take some time to figure out what works for her. Why don't you take a break. Go out and shoot some pool, have a couple drinks, I'll stay here.” Sam said reassuringly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, go ahead.” 

The bathroom door closed for a few minutes, and then I heard it open again. Then I heard the sound of the hotel door being opened. I sat up and looked over, just in time to see Dean leaving. I sprang off of the bed and ran to the door, yanking it open, as the Impala drove away. “Dean!” I called. “Dad!” 

I felt a hand turning me around, and Uncle Sam was behind me. “Charlie, what are you doing?” His face was serious, but not angry.

“Where is Dean going?” I asked, tears coming to my eyes. “He didn't say goodbye to me!” 

“You're supposed to be asleep, young lady.” Uncle Sam said sternly. “Dean went out for a little while, he needs a break.”

“When is he coming back?” I looked up at Uncle Sam, and he saw that I had tears in my eyes. 

“Why are you upset?” he leaned down and picked me up. 

“Did he leave because of me?” I asked quietly.

“No,” Uncle Sam said. “No, honey, don't think that.” He carried me back over to me bed and put me down. “Lay down and I'll rub your back. Get some sleep.” 

 

I woke up suddenly to a cell phone ringing. I heard Dean's voice, hoarse from sleep, talking. “Yeah? Hey. Oh really? Okay...yeah, I'll tell him. Okay, see you in a few.”   
I heard him say, “Sam, wake up. Hey Sam...there's been another attack. Bobby's coming over in a few minutes.”

I heard Uncle Sam mumbling something. I got out of bed and walked around the divider. “What happened?” I asked.

Dean and Uncle Sam were sitting on the edges of their beds, facing each other. Dean turned to me. 

“Go back to bed, Charlie.” he said. “Don't worry about it.”

I got back into my bed, but I didn't lay down. I could hear them talking in low voices. Then they got up and started to move around the room. There was a knock on the door, and Uncle Sam opened it, then I heard Uncle Bobby's gruff voice.

“I figure if we head out now, we can maybe get there before the official crew does.”  
“Dean's going to go with you.” Uncle Sam said. 

I jumped off of my bed and ran over to them. Dean came out of the bathroom just then.

“Where are you going? I want to go too!” I said to him. 

“No, Charlie. There was another attack at a different campsite, and we're going to go investigate. It's not safe for you to be there.” Dean told me, buttoning the cuffs of his plaid shirt.

“Please let me go with you!” I threw my arms around his waist. “What if you get hurt?”

He put his arms around my shoulders. “You can't go with me.” he said. “You're going to stay here with Uncle Sam today.”

“I don't want to, I want to be with you!” Tears came to my eyes. 

“We can go get pancakes for breakfast, how's that?” Uncle Sam came over and stood next to us, looking down at me.

Dean took my arms away from his middle and walked over to the bed to put his boots on. “You'll be fine.” he said to me. 

“Don't leave!” I pleaded, starting to cry. He stood up again and I hugged him. He leaned down and hugged me tightly for a moment. 

“Okay, we have to go. Charlie, let go.” he said.

I felt hands pulling me away, and then Uncle Sam picked me up. Dean and Uncle Bobby turned to leave.

“I'll call you later, Sam.” Dean said. “Bye, Charlie, be good.” He smiled at me, and then they left the room. 

I put my head on Uncle Sam's shoulder and sobbed.

“Why are you so upset, hmm?” he asked.

“I'm scared he'll get hurt!” I said. 

“They're just going to look things over, and he knows what he's doing. He and Uncle Bobby will watch each other's backs. You should try and go back to sleep for a while.”

“I don't want to!” I whined. Uncle Sam walked us over to his bed and sat down, putting me in his lap. I leaned against him and he stroked my hair back from my face slowly, and I felt myself getting sleepy.

I woke up later in his bed. He was at the table, clicking away on his laptop. I sat up and looked over at him. 

“Good morning.” he said, smiling at me. “You still in the mood to get pancakes?”

“I'm always in the mood for pancakes!” I said, and he laughed.

“Get dressed then, and we can go and get breakfast.”


	7. Chapter 7

I hopped out of bed and got dressed, then went and got my brush. I took it over to Uncle Sam and handed it to him, then turned around. He brushed my hair, and then tapped my shoulder. I turned again, taking my brush from him, and he looked at my shirt, and then chuckled. I was wearing a shirt that said, “My Patronus is a bookworm” with a little drawing of a worm in an open book. 

“That's a great shirt!” he said.

“Thanks, I love it.” I said with a grin. I put my brush back, and then went to put my new tennis shoes on.

“Those are the ones you just got?” Uncle Sam leaned over and looked down at my feet.

“Yeah.” 

He started to shut his laptop down. “You like pink?”

“It's okay. Purple is my favorite, but I'll take pink too. Especially if it's sparkly!” 

He chuckled again. “Purple, pink, and sparkly. I'll remember that. Ready to go?”

“Yep!” I followed him out the door, and we went to the car. We ate at the Pancake House restaurant again, and I got chocolate chip pancakes. Uncle Sam and I shared a mixed fruit cup again. He got a phone call from Dean as we were finishing up. 

“We need to get back to the room.” he said to me, motioning to the waitress. He paid the bill and then we went back to the hotel. 

“Can I go to the playground?” I asked Uncle Sam as he sat down at the table and turned his laptop on.

“Not right now. I need to take you there, and I've got some work to do.” He was concentrating on the computer screen, and he called Dean back. 

I leaned on the edge of the table. “Can I talk to him?” I asked. 

“No, Charlie. Go find something to do.” Uncle Sam said. He turned away from me slightly. I sighed and went to find my 3DS. It didn't have much charge left, I was never good at remembering to plug it in every night. I laid on my bed and played one of the games until the power ran out. Then I found the charger and plugged it into the wall. I wandered over to the tv and turned it on, flipping through the channels over and over.

“Charlie, pick a channel and watch something. That's annoying.” Uncle Sam called to me.

I sighed again, and found a cartoon that I liked to watch. I got bored, though, because all that was playing was episodes I had already seen a lot. 

Uncle Sam's phone rang again, and he talked for a moment, then glanced at me and got up to walk outside. I guess he wanted to have a private conversation. 

I walked over to his computer quickly and opened a new browser window. I typed in the name of an educational reading website that I played on at school. It took several seconds to load and then I found one of the games I liked. I started playing it, and then the computer screen froze. I remembered just then that this site had caused problems with the computers at school, and made them freeze and sometimes crash.

Uncle Sam came back into the room as I tried to close the browser, but it was stuck. He took one look at me standing there at the table and his face got angry.

“Go sit on your bed.” he said sternly, and a muscle jumped in his cheek. I hurried over to my bed and got on it, watching him anxiously as he sat down.

He frowned as he tapped the keys, and then sighed and ran his hands through his hair. His face was tense and he muttered to himself every once in a while. 

“Uncle Sam, can I get up?” I asked.

He turned his head to look at me. “No. You're in time out until I say so.”

“Time out is for little kids!” I protested. 

He straightened up and looked at me. “Would you rather stand in the corner?”

I had never had to stand in a corner before, but it seemed like it would be embarrassing.   
“Uh, no.” I said. 

“No more talking.” he said curtly. 

I sat there as the minutes dragged by slowly and he worked on the laptop. Finally, I heard the chimes that meant the computer was starting up, and he watched the screen. Then he sighed, and rubbed his hand across his face. He pushed his chair back from the table a little bit and turned his head to me.

“Charlie, come here.” he said. 

All of a sudden, I didn't want to. I had broken a rule that Uncle Sam had made about his computer, I had disobeyed him, and he was probably really mad at me. He was going to scold me for sure. My mouth went dry as I wondered if he was going to spank me. I didn't think he would, because he wasn't my dad, but he still might. 

“Uh, why?” I asked. 

“Because I told you to, young lady.” he said in a hard voice.

I stood up and slowly walked over to stand in front of him. I put my hands behind my back and toed the floor in front of me. 

He looked at me with a serious look on his face. “I told you when we first met that my computer was not a toy. I use this for research and there's a lot of sensitive information stored on here. Because of that, I can't just take this to a regular computer store to get fixed if something breaks. I have to take it to a friend who is a computer guy who lives a few states away. And that takes time away from our hunting. That's why I'm so careful with it. Do you understand now?” 

I nodded, looking up at him. “Yes, Uncle Sam.” I said in a quiet voice.

“What I want to know is, why you thought it would be okay to blatantly disregard the rules that I made.”

“Huh? Blat- blatan--” I was confused by those big words.

“It means that you just do what you want without thinking about the rules. Why did you think it would be okay to do that?”

I blushed, and then shrugged, still staring at the floor. 

“Use your words.” Uncle Sam's voice was hard again.

“I dunno.” I said quietly.

“I dunno is not a reason, young lady.” he said. He glared at me, and I stepped away from him, afraid of the intensity of his eyes. 

“Get back over here.” he said, beckoning me with his hand. 

I stood still, feeling a scared pang in my tummy.

“Now.” he said forcefully. 

I walked towards him, until I was standing right in front of him 

“You deliberately disobeyed me, you broke a rule that I made, and I'm going to give you a spanking.”

“But- but you're not my Dad, you can't!” I said in a rush.

“My computer, my rules, so yes, I am going to spank you.”

“It- it was a accident!” I burst out, trying to defend myself.

He sat back, and gave me a look.

“You're telling me that you 'accidentally' got on my computer, after I made those rules?” he narrowed his eyes.”You want to add lying to how much trouble you're in?”

I gulped. “No, I—I just thought I could play a game real quick...it was an educational website for reading!” 

“Stop making excuses.” he said in an angry voice. “The computer isn't frozen any more, but I'm still going to need to run some virus scans later and make sure everything is okay.”

“I'm sorry.” I said in a small voice.

He patted his knee once. “Come here. Over my lap.” he said. 

I squirmed, feeling nervous. “I—but I—I don't--”

He looked at me intently. “Charlotte Anne.” he said sternly, pointing at the floor next to him. 

It was only a couple steps over to Uncle Sam's side but I felt like I was walking through molasses. Even sitting in a chair, Uncle Sam was taller than me, and I felt very small standing there and looking up at him. I put my hands on his thigh and leaned forward, and he had to reach over and pick me up because I was so short and his legs were so tall.

“Please, Uncle Sam, I said I was sorry!” I cried out. 

He was so tall and huge, and his hands were so big-- a second later I found out that they are also very hard as his hand spanked my bottom for the first time. I yelled out, because it hurt, a lot! I struggled, trying to get up, but he put his hand on my back to hold me there over his lap. 

“You're not going anywhere.” he said to me, and he spanked me again. I flinched-- his big hand covered my whole butt! 

“I'm very disappointed in you. You need to stop acting like the rules don't apply to you, and you need to listen to me and your dad. We expect you to do as you're told, and if you don't you're going to end up in trouble.” As he talked, his hand fell again and again on my bottom, and I whimpered and struggled. I had started to cry right away, because when he said he was disappointed in me, it made me feel bad. 

“I'm sorrryyyy!” I wailed, as the swats continued to fall. Dean hadn't spanked me for this long or this hard, and my bottom was stinging. 

“You're going to stay off of my computer.” A hard swat fell.

“Y-yes.”

“And you're going to follow the rules.” Another hard swat, right below the first one.

“Y-yes!”

“And you will not lie any more!” Another, harder swat landed.

“Y-YES!” I sobbed out. 

He spanked me three more times, hard, right on the lower part of my butt where you sit down. I yelped and kicked my legs.

Then he helped me to sit up on his lap. I turned my face into his flannel shirt, sobbing, feeling guilty and embarrassed.

“What are the rules about my computer, Charlie?” he asked gently.

“Uh, you said-- you said I wasn't 'llowed to get on your laptop right now. And, and that I had to ask your permission to play on it, always. And that you would check the websites that I wanted play to make sure they were okay.” 

“That's right.” he said. “Good girl. I want you to make sure you follow those rules from now on, and no more lying. Understand?”

“Y-yes, Uncle Sam.” 

He put his arms around me and pulled me close to him. 

“Are you still disappointed?” I asked hesitantly. “And mad at me?” More tears filled my eyes and I sobbed without meaning to.

“No, you've been punished for what you did wrong. You follow the rules and do what you're supposed to, and I won't have a reason to be disappointed any more.”

“I'm not trying to be bad.” I said.

“I know, honey. You're still getting used to everything.” He stroked my hair back from my face, and I pulled my legs up and curled up in his lap, putting my arms around his middle. My chest hitched, and he rubbed my back and said, “Shh, you're all right.”

Uncle Sam was huge and tall and it could be a little intimidating, but it was also comforting to be snuggled on his lap like this. I felt little and safe. We sat together for a while, and I started to feel sleepy. Then Uncle Sam's phone rang again. He patted my back and I sat up, then got off of his lap.

“Hey, Bobby, what's up? Yeah? Okay, let me pull that up...” Uncle Sam looked at me.   
“Go on over there, Charlie.” he said quietly, motioning to the other side of the room. I walked away, and he turned his attention back to his computer screen. 

I found my backpack that had a bunch of my little toys in it, and I pulled out some of the action figures and little figurines. I had had a whole made-up game that I played with them, so I gathered them up and then got on the floor and scooted under my bed. Since it was a sofa bed, it was higher off the ground than a regular bed and there was room under it for me to lay on my tummy and play with my toys privately. 

“Charlie?” I heard Uncle Sam say. “What are you doing under there?” I turned and saw his feet next to the bed. I pushed myself back out from under the bed and stood up.  
“I was playing with stuff.” I said, feeling a little embarrassed. 

“Oh.” he said. He picked something off of my head. “You have a dust bunny in your hair. I guess housekeeping doesn't clean under there very much. Are you hungry? It's about time to eat lunch.”

“Yeah.” I said. I looked up at him and hugged him suddenly. It was nice that they always asked me if I was hungry and made sure I ate. I was on my own so much with Mom that I just ate whenever I wanted, and sometimes I would forget to eat.

He hugged me back. “What's this for?” he asked, chuckling a little.

“I just felt like it.” I said, feeling shy. 

Uncle Sam took us to a restaurant that served soup in a bread bowl and lots of fancy salads. I had noticed that he liked to eat salad and ate lots of healthy food. He ordered a big salad that had lots of vegetables in it, and I ordered soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. 

“Do you want some of my salad?” He asked as we were eating.

“No thanks, this is enough.” I said. My meal had also come with a bag of potato chips.

“Make sure you eat some vegetables with dinner then.” He told me.

“Okay, I will.” I smiled at him. 

“I thought we could go out after we eat and try to find you some more shoes. You need more than one pair.” 

“Okay!” I said happily. “If we go to different store maybe I can find some Hello Kitty shoes!” 

He laughed. “Maybe. Don't get your hopes up, though. I don't think every store sells Hello Kitty stuff.”

Uncle Sam took me to a shoe store, and got a salesman to help us measure my feet and find the right size shoe for me. I got a pair of sandals with velcro straps and a pair of slip-on shoes that had zoo animals all over them. 

“Mom says that velcro is a parent's best friend.” I told Uncle Sam as we walked to the checkout line. 

He chuckled. “I can see how that's true.” he said. “I can't imagine trying to buckle a shoe onto a squirmy little kid. Those buckles on your black shoes were so small!”

We walked by a rack of purses and then I saw it- a pink and white Hello Kitty purse! I stopped walking and pulled on Uncle Sam's hand. 

“Look, Uncle Sam!” I pointed at it. “A Hello Kitty purse! Can I get it? Please? Pleeease?” I begged, looking up at him. 

“Well...” he hesitated. “All right, go ahead.”

“Thank you!” I hugged him and then ran over to grab one of them off the shelf. “Yay!” I said happily. “I've never had a purse before!” I unzipped it and looked inside. “And look, it's big enough that I can put my 3Ds in it!” 

Uncle Sam laughed. “You really like Hello Kitty, don't you?”

“No, I don't like her, I LOVE her!” I said, grinning at him, and he laughed again.

When we got back to the hotel, he said, “Do you want to go to the playground for a while?” 

“Yeah!” I said. 

“All right, you go ahead. I'm going to get my laptop and bring it out here.” 

I went to the playground and he walked to the room and went in to get his laptop. He sat on a bench and did some work on it as I ran around and swung on the swings. 

“Come here, Charlie.” Uncle Sam called to me after a while. I jumped off the swing and walked over to him. He took my chin and turned my head a little, looking at my face.

“You're getting a little sunburnt.” he said. “Does your skin burn easily in the sun?”

“Oh. Yeah, I do. Mommy said that I have her pale skin, it's from Italy or something.”

He smiled. “Well, we'll have to see about getting you some sunscreen. Let's go to the room, I don't want it getting worse.” 

I sighed. “O-kay.” I liked playing outside. “Can we come back later when the sun is down?”

“We'll see.” Uncle Sam closed his laptop and stood up. I took his hand as we walked across the parking lot, remembering what Dean had said about always holding hands.  
“You're going to need a bath tonight, you got all sweaty on the playground.” Uncle Sam told me.

“Okay.” I agreed. “Can I watch a movie?”

He helped me find the fourth Harry Potter movie on the hotel tv and I sat down to watch it while he went over to the table and got on his laptop again. The movie was almost over when the room door opened, and Dean and Uncle Bobby came in, carrying flat pizza boxes and a couple of bags.

I got up and ran over to them. “Dad, I missed you!” I said, throwing myself at Dean. His face lit up when I said that and he picked me up and hugged me.

“I missed you too.” He said. He put me down on the floor. “How did it go today?”

“Uh-” I looked down at the floor, realizing that Dean was going to find out about me getting in trouble. Uh-oh.

“We had an issue this morning, but I took care of it.” Uncle Sam said. “We'll talk about it later.” 

“Oh. Okay.” Dean said, raising his eyebrows. 

Sam moved his laptop off of the table so that they could put the pizza boxes down. We sat at the table and ate, and Uncle Bobby handed them bottles of beer that he had brought to the room. 

“Charlie needs to take a bath tonight, I figured we could talk about the case then.” Uncle Sam said. “And we need to get her some sunscreen, she burns quickly.”

“Yeah, I noticed that her face is a little red.” Dean said. “You were outside today?”

“We went to the playground.” I told him. “And Uncle Sam took me to get more shoes. And look!” I got up from the table and brought over my purse. “I got a purse!”

“That's that cat. Right?” Dean said. 

“That's supposed to be a cat?” Uncle Bobby said.

“Yes! How come you guys can't tell?” I said. 

“We just can't see it.” Dean said. He leaned over and looked down. “Those are your new sandals?”

“Yeah.”

He looked at Uncle Sam. “Uncle Sam has the patience of a saint.” he sighed. “I don't know how Dad got through it with two boys, man, shoe shopping is stressful.” 

“Well, his approach to parenting was a little different than yours, Dean.” Uncle Bobby said with a chuckle. “You boys knew that if you acted up in the slightest you were gonna end up with a sore tail.”

“Your Dad spanked you?” I asked Dean.

“Yeah, he was in the military, so he expected us to follow his orders to the letter. But he had his reasons for acting the way he did. He was training us to be hunters, and it can be life-or-death sometimes.” He took a deep drink of his beer. “He mellowed some as he got older.” He looked at me. “Ready to take a bath?” 

“Yeah, I just need to get my pjs.” I got up and went over to my suitcase to get out a nightshirt-- Hello Kitty, of course. Dean went into the bathroom and turned on the water in the tub. He waited with me until the tub was filled partway, and then he left, closing the door after him. I could hear them talking as I washed myself. 

I came out of the bathroom carrying my brush, and I walked over to Uncle Sam and handed it to him. He brushed through my wet hair, and then handed it back to me. He and Dean were sitting at the table. Uncle Bobby had left.

“Sit down, Charlie, we need to have a talk.” Dean said. 

I sat down between them, getting nervous. Had Uncle Sam told Dean about this morning? I looked at both of them. 

“I understand you got yourself into some trouble this morning.” Dean said, leaning forward. 

I folded my fingers together and looked down at them in my lap.

“Uh, yeah.” I said quietly. 

“Charlie, look at me.” Dean said. His voice was that deeper tone when he was being very serious. I looked up at him. He looked me in the eyes.

“Sam's laptop is an important tool that we use, and we need it to help us with our hunting. You cannot be messing with it.” Dean glanced at Uncle Sam. “Did she get the message, Sam, or does it need to be reinforced?”

I gulped. Was Dean going to spank me too?

“Not this time. She got it.” Uncle Sam said. 

Dean looked at me again. “If that happens again, you're going to get a spanking from me as well as from Uncle Sam, do you understand?”

I blushed. “Y--yes, Dean.” I dropped my eyes back to my lap. 

He sat up straight. “We need to talk about a couple other things. The lying has to stop.”  
I felt myself blushing harder. I wasn't used to someone talking to me like this about the things that I did, or being caught at things like telling lies. I didn't think of them like something serious, just little things to help me get my way. 

“This is very important, Charlotte.” Dean said. “From now on, if you lie to either of us, that will be an automatic spanking. And if you're already getting a consequence for something else, you'll still get a spanking for lying. You got it?”

“Uh- yes, De—Dad.”

He cleared his throat. “Last night, your behavior was out of hand. I had just talked to you about hitting and kicking, and you did it again. I told you that you needed to stop screaming and fighting me when I tell you to do something, and you still did it. You tried to run away, and left the room, which breaks the rule that you aren't to leave the room without an adult. If the tantrums keep happening, there are going to be serious consequences, and I'm only going to give you once chance to calm down and rein it in. Got it?”

I nodded. “Yes, Dad.” I squirmed uncomfortably, because they were both looking at me. “Am I- am I in trouble for last night?”

“No, you're not. But that's the last time I'm going to let behavior like that slide.” He held his arms out to me. “Come here.”

I got off my chair and walked over to him, and he pulled me to sit in his lap. “I know this is really different than what you're used to.”

I put my arms around him and snuggled into his chest. “I don't mind.” I said. “I never had a Dad or an Uncle before.” 

“Well, I've never had a daughter before.” Dean said.

“And I've never had a niece!” Uncle Sam said with a laugh. “That's new for all of us.” 

Dean looked down at me. “Did you brush your teeth?”

“Oh-- I forgot.” I said. I got off of his lap.

He patted my bottom and said, “Go brush your teeth, it's almost time for bed for you.”

“You want to start reading the Harry Potter tonight?” Uncle Sam asked me. 

“Yeah!” I called as I walked into the bathroom. 

When I came out, Uncle Sam was sitting on the sofa with the book in his lap. “I thought it would be more comfortable to sit here, there isn't really a headboard on your bed.” he said. 

“Okay.” I said, sitting next to him. He put his arm around me and read part of the first chapter out loud. Then he closed the book. “It's 8:30, time for you to be in bed.”

“Aww, can't we finish the chapter?” I begged.

“Nope. Bedtime is important.” 

“O-kay.” I sighed. I leaned over and hugged him. “Good night, Uncle Sam. Thanks for taking me out today.” 

“Good night, Charlie.” he said, hugging me tightly for a moment. I walked over to me bed and Dean came over and sat down as I got on it. 

He leaned over and hugged me.

“Good night, Dad.” I said. “I'm glad I have a Dad and and Uncle.” 

He kissed my cheek as he pulled back. “I'm glad I have a daughter.” He smiled at me, and I laid down so he could pull the covers up. 

I didn't have any bad dreams that night.


	8. Chapter 8

“Charlie, wake up.” I felt a hand rubbing my back. I rolled onto my side and opened my eyes. Dean was leaning over the bed. 

“You need to get up and get dressed, we're going out today.”

I put my arms up and stretched. “What are we doing?”

“We're going to go over to the other site, and Sam is going to do some research at the local library, and you're going to go with him.”

I sat up. “But I want to go with you!”

“I'm going to be with Bobby, and we'll be talking to police and doing things like that, so you can't go with me.” 

“Pleeease? I can sit in the lobby and wait for you! I sat in the lobby and waited for Mom at her appointments all the time.”

Dean shook his head. “No, Charlie. You going with Sam is the better option.” 

“No fair!” I folded my arms and pouted. 

He reached out and tapped my nose. “That face isn't going to work on me, kiddo.” he chuckled. “Get up and get dressed. Sam's on his way back with breakfast.” 

I sighed and got out of bed. I dug around in my suitcase and got out a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt that had a picture of a dragon on it. 

Uncle Sam came in with a bag and drinks, and I went over to the table and sat down with them. He passed me a breakfast sandwich and a carton of orange juice.

“Can I have some of your coffee?” I asked Dean. 

“Nope.” Dean said. 

“Don't even ask.” Uncle Sam said as I looked at him hopefully, “You shouldn't be drinking coffee.”

“Aww, I like coffee!” I whined.

“You probably like the kind of coffee that has all the sugar and flavoring, don't you? That's not real coffee.” Dean scoffed. 

“Yeah, caramel mocha is the best!” I told him.

He rolled his eyes. “The best is just a cup of black coffee.” 

“Yuck!” I wrinkled my nose. 

Uncle Sam looked at my shirt. “No Hello Kitty today?”

“Dragons are cool too!” I said. 

After I ate, I got my brush so that Uncle Sam could brush the knots out of my hair. It was kinda becoming a routine in the morning with him. 

Dean got dressed in his suit and went with Uncle Bobby, and Sam drove us in the Impala.

The library that we went to was a huge old building with a couple floors and rooms with display cases of historical artifacts and stuff like that. Besides library books they had things like floor plans for local buildings and other documents.   
I had brought my 3DS in my Hello Kitty purse and my drawing supplies. 

“Can I go look at the kid's books?” I asked Uncle Sam.

“No, I want you to stay here with me.” he said, sitting down in front of a computer. 

“But Mom would let me go to the kid's section by myself at our library!” I protested.

He turned to me. “Charlie, this is a huge library, that neither of us has been to before. I said no.”

“But it's just over there--” I pointed.

“Don't argue with me, young lady. Would you like to sit in time out while we're here?” He looked at me, raising his eyebrows.

“No!” I said sourly. 

He leaned towards me. “Watch. The attitude.” he said firmly. 

I sighed and opened my purse, pulling out my 3DS. I started playing a game.

“Turn the volume down, please.” Uncle Sam glanced at me. 

I sighed and turned the volume down, then played for a while. I got annoyed with the game because I couldn't get to the next level, so I turned it off. 

I looked over at Uncle Sam, he was writing something in a little notebook.

“Uncle Sam, can I go sit at a table and draw?” I asked him.

He looked up at the computer screen, frowning, and then looked down at the notebook and continued writing. 

“Uncle Sam?” I repeated.

“Yeah, hold on...” he finished writing and then looked at me. “What?”

“Can I go sit at one of those tables and draw?” I turned and pointed at a group of tables that were a few feet away from the computer desks.

“Okay, sure.” he said.

I got up and walked over to one of the tables and sat down, looking over at him.  
He nodded at me, and I started to get out my sketch pad and pencils.

I looked through my sketch pad and worked on a drawing I had started a while ago, of a fairy, but then I couldn't get the wings right, so I turned to a blank page. I decided to try and draw an animal. I usually looked at a picture and tried to draw based on that. There were shelves across the way, with lots of big books of photographs. I glanced over at Uncle Sam, his head was down and he was writing again. I walked over to the shelves and bent down, finding a big book with photographs of animals that lived on the African Savannah. That would be cool to try and draw some of them, I thought, pulling the book off of the shelf.

I stood up and turned to go back to the table, and I bumped into Uncle Sam, who was right behind me.

“What are you doing?” I looked up at him. He didn't look happy.

“What are you doing?” he asked pointedly. “I didn't tell you you could get up and wander around.”

“I didn't wander!” I protested. “I went right over here, it's just across from the table!” 

“I looked over to check on you and you weren't there. You should have come and asked me.”

“I have to ask you if I can do every little thing?” I said bitterly. “Do I have to ask if I can breathe?”

Uncle Sam leaned down. “That's enough.” he said. “I've already talked to you once about attitude. If I have to talk to you again, you're going to get a consequence.”

“It's not fair!” I said loudly.

A couple people looked up at us, and someone whispered, “SHH!”

“Go sit down.” Uncle Sam told me.

“I was going to!” I exclaimed hotly.

“All right, that's it.” Uncle Sam reached down and took my wrist. “You're in time out.”

“But- but that's for little kids!” I protested loudly. 

“No, it's not.” he looked at me. “Stop complaining and come with me.” He led me over to the table where my stuff was. He took the book out of my hands and put it on the table with my stuff, then he picked up the chair I had been sitting in and carried it over and put it next to the computer he was sitting at. He looked at me and pointed. “Sit.” he said.

“Do I have to?” I whined.

“Yes.” he said firmly. “Eight minutes.”

I sat down, feeling embarrassed. I glanced over at a man sitting in a chair across from us, who was looking at me. Did he know I was in time out? Tears came to my eyes. I bent my head so that Uncle Sam wouldn't see them. This was stupid!   
After a couple minutes, I wiped my eyes with my hands and sat up, swinging my feet. I looked around at everything to try and make the time pass.

Uncle Sam's watch chimed, and he pressed a button on it. He looked over at me.

“You can get up now. Go back over to the table and sit down. If you want to get up and get another book, come tell me first, please.” 

“Okay.” I slid off the chair and stood up. “When can I go to the kid's section?”

“That depends on you. You behave yourself and I'll take you there later. If not, then you're going to be sitting here next to me for the rest of the day.” 

I sighed. “O-kay.” I walked back over to the table and pulled the book over, looking through it to find something to draw. I settled on trying to draw an elephant, and worked on it for a while.

“That's really good.” Uncle Sam said, leaning over my shoulder. “It's time to go get lunch, we're going to meet your Dad.” 

“Where are we going to eat?” I looked up at him.

“There's a diner a couple of blocks from here.” 

I put my drawing pad and pencils back in my bag and put it on my shoulder, then I grabbed my purse. I took Uncle Sam's hand as we walked out to the car.   
When we got to the diner, Dean and Uncle Bobby were already in a booth. I ran over to it.

“Dean!” I said happily, climbing into the seat. 

“Whoa, let me put my drink down.” he said as I tried to hug him. He put his glass on the table and then hugged me. 

I sat down next to him and he handed me a menu. “How was your morning?” he asked me, leaning over.

“Can I go with you?” I asked. “Uncle Sam's being mean.” I said quietly.

“Oh?” Dean looked up at Uncle Sam, who was sitting across from me.

Uncle Sam was concentrating on the menu, but when he felt Dean's eyes on him, he looked up. “What?” he said.

“Uncle Sam is being mean?” Dean asked.

Uncle Sam frowned. “No... why do you say that?”

Dean looked down at me. “Charlie? Want to explain what you meant?”

I shrank down in my seat, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment. “He put me in time out!” I exclaimed. 

“And why did I put you in time out?” Uncle Sam asked me pointedly.

“Uh- 'cause I got up from the table and he couldn't see me.” I looked up at Dean. “Its not fair! Why do I have to ask about every little thing!” 

“It's not just that, you were giving me major attitude too.” Uncle Sam said.

“Oh really?” Dean asked, raising his eyebrow as he looked at me. 

I shrank down further. At this rate I was going to end up under the table. 

“Charlie, sit up and look at me.” Dean said firmly. 

I slowly sat up and then looked up at his face. “We just had another talk about your behavior last night, didn't we?”

“Yeah.” I said sourly.

“Excuse me?” Dean said sternly.

“What?” I snapped.

“How are you supposed to answer me?”

I sighed. “Yes, Dean.” I rolled my eyes.

He took my chin in his hand and made me look at him. “You want to try that again, with about 95 percent less attitude?” His voice was even more stern.

“Yes, Dean.” I said again. 

He let go of me, but still held my eyes with his. “I think that Uncle Sam did the right thing, especially if you were acting this way with him. And you need to remember that you can't just do what you want, and that means you can't wander around a public place on your own.”

“I wasn't wandering around!” I said loudly, getting angry. “I just went across the room a little ways to look at books!” 

“But I looked up and I couldn't see you.” U ncle Sam said. “And I told you to stay at that table.”

“No you didn't, you just said sit down!” 

He gave me a look. “Really? You're going to argue semantics?”

“What does that mean?” I snapped.

“You're going to argue about the words that I used? Me telling you to sit down means that I'm also telling you to stay there.”

“No it doesn't.” I said stubbornly. 

“Fine.” Dean said. “Then we'll start telling you every little thing you can and can't do. Is that what you want?”

“Noooo!” I folded my arms. “This is SO not fair!” 

“Little girl, you need to realize that you can't just do what you want anymore.” Dean's face softened. “You're not on your own any more, there are people who care about you and are concerned about your safety. That's why we make these rules.” 

I glared up at him. “My mom cared about me!”

“Yes, but she was too sick to take care of you properly. And that's what we're doing, taking care of you the right way.”

“No, you just want to give me lots and lots of rules and make it so that I can't do anything fun!” I leaned over and pushed at him, and then turned to get up out of the booth. Tears had come to my eyes.

I felt Dean's hand on my arm. “You're not going anywhere,” he said in a hard voice.

“Let go!” I turned back to him. “You're mean! You and Uncle Sam are just mean! My mom did care about me, you don't! I wish I was back with her!” And then I burst into tears. I felt embarrassed again, and covered my face with my hands. 

I felt hands on my arms, pulling me, and I knew Dean was pulling me to sit in his lap.

“I wasn't saying that your mom didn't care about you.” he said quietly.”I know she loved you a lot. But she was too sick to take care of you, for quite a while. That's why she called me, so that you would have someone to take care of you the right way when she was gone.”

“It's not faaaaairr!” I wailed.” Why did she have to---have to--” I couldn't say the words. I buried my head in Dean's chest and bawled. He hugged me tightly and let me cry. 

“Well, this has been interesting.” I heard Uncle Bobby say. “It's certainly different than when y'all were kids.” 

“Well, it's a different situation.” Uncle Sam said.

“Y'all ready to order?” I heard a woman ask. 

“No, we need a couple more minutes.” Uncle Sam said. 

Dean shifted in the booth and I felt him wiping my face with a napkin.   
“Come on, sweetheart.” he said. “Are you hungry? Let's look at the menu.”

“I don't care.” I said hoarsely.

“You need to eat something.” 

“Do you want a grilled cheese sandwich?” I heard Uncle Sam ask. “They have that on the menu.”

“Okay.” I said. 

“You want grilled cheese with tomato soup?” Dean asked, looking down at me.

“Uh-huh.” I put my arms around him, not wanting to get up just yet. 

The waitress came back and they ordered, and Dean told her what I wanted. I sat on his lap with my eyes closed, with my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 

When the food came, I sat next to him and ate quietly, looking down at my plate. I felt embarrassed for crying again. 

Dean's phone rang as we were finishing up. “Hey, Dad.” he said. “Oh, you are? Great. We're at the Ramada Inn, off of route 110. You know where-- oh, okay. Room 208. Bobby's a few doors down from us. Yes, sir. Talk to you then.” He hung up and look at Uncle Sam.

“Dad should be here by this evening. He'll call when he gets closer.” 

“Okay.” Uncle Sam said. “We ready to get back to work?”

We got out of the booth, and I took Dean's hand as we walked to the front door. 

He leaned down to hug me and said, “Behave yourself.” 

“I will.” I said. Uncle Sam opened the back door of the Impala for me.

“We'll see you back at the hotel.” Dean said.

We drove back to the library, and I brought in my drawing bag and my purse again. I walked next to Uncle Sam, and he surprised me by walking over to the kid's area first. 

“I thought you might have a better time if we got you some books to look at while I'm working.” he told me. “I should have done that in the first place.” 

He walked behind me as I looked through the shelves. I grabbed a couple of collections of fairy tales and then turned to him. “I'm good.” I said.

He led me back over to the table I had been sitting at before. He picked up one of the books when I put them on the table. “You like to read fairy tales?”

“Yeah.” I said. “And myths and legends, too. They're cool.”

He ruffled my hair. “I'm going to be right over there, If you need to get something, come let me know.” 

“Okay, Uncle Sam.” I sat down and started reading. 

It didn't seem like I was reading for a long time, but then I was almost at the end of the book, and Uncle Sam was standing in front of me, saying, “I'm done here, you ready to go?” 

We walked back to the kids' section and I put the books back on the shelf, and then we drove to the hotel. Dean and Uncle Bobby were in our room. 

“Can I go play on the playground?” I asked, hanging on to Dean's arm.  
“Pleeease? I've been sitting in a library all day!” 

“Well, we need to talk about what we found.” Dean said. 

“Let her go, I'll bring my laptop outside and we can talk off to the side.” Uncle Sam said. 

“All right.” Dean agreed. 

“Yay!” I said. I ran to the door and opened it, and then ran outside. 

“Hey!” Dean followed me and pulled me back towards him, swatting my butt. “You're not supposed to leave the room without an adult!” he scolded, frowning at me.

“I thought you were right behind me!” I whined. 

“Well, next time, you'd better check, and not just run ahead. Got it?”

“Yes, Dean.” I sighed. He took my hand and we crossed the parking lot to the playground. 

Dean and Uncle Bobby stood at the bench and Uncle Sam sat on the bench with his laptop in his lap. They talked for a long time, and then Dean got a phone call. He walked over to me when he was finished talking.

“We're going to go get some dinner, and meet up with my dad.” he told me. “You hungry?”

I slowed the swing down. “I guess.” I said. I was hungry, but the thought of meeting Dean's dad made me feel nervous and not hungry. 

Uncle Sam put his laptop back in the hotel room, and then we got into the car and drove to a restaurant. The waitress put us in a booth, with Uncle Sam facing the door, opposite me and Dean. They chatted while we waited for the waitress to bring our drinks. 

“Here he is.” Uncle Sam said, and he slid out of the booth and stood up as a man came walking over. He was about as tall as Dean, but broader, with dark hair and eyes. Dean got up too and both he and Uncle Sam hugged the man and patted each other's backs like men do. 

Then Dean turned to me and said, “Dad, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Charlotte.” He beckoned me to him and I slid over and got out of the booth and stood next to him. “Charlie, this is your grandfather, John Winchester. “

When Dean said 'grandfather', his father chuckled, but it was an uncomfortable sound, and he wasn't smiling.

I held my hand out and said, “Nice to meet you.”, because I knew that's what you say when you meet new people. He took my hand and shook it.

When our hands touched I felt a flash of that sense of 'knowing' that I used to get. I looked up at him and I knew that he had a deep sadness inside of him because of something bad that had happened. I blinked and let go of his hand, and it was gone. He was looking down at me, and I saw a slight frown cross his face. 

“Nice to meet you too.” he said, still looking at me. “It's...Charlotte, you said?” he asked Dean. His voice was deep too, but in a different way than Dean's.

“Yeah, but she goes by Charlie.” Dean told him. We all sat back down in the booth. 

John raised his eyebrows. “Charlie?”

“I like it better.” I said. “The kids at school called me Charlotte Spider after the teacher read Charlotte's Web.”

“I see.” 

The waitress brought our drinks and handed out menus. I opened mine and started looking at it. Dean leaned over to me and put his arm along the back of the booth. 

“What looks good, kiddo?” he asked me. “What are you in the mood for?”

“I don't know.” I said. “I know what you're getting though!” I looked up at him and smiled. “Cheeseburger with fries, right?”

He smiled back at me. “You already know me so well.” he said.

“Can I get the spaghetti with meatballs?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. “Does that come with a vegetable?”

“A salad.” I pointed to the menu. 

“Good.” he looked over at Uncle Sam. “Gotta make sure you get some vegetables or Uncle Sam will be all over me.” 

“I don't want your kid to follow in your footsteps of eating crappy food.” Uncle Sam retorted. “Your cholesterol's probably through the roof.” 

“So what's the news with the second attack?” John asked, looking at Uncle Sam and then Dean.

“We're still working on it.” Dean said slowly.

“Were there any survivors?”

“Uh, no, not of this attack.” Dean looked down at the table.

“And you've interviewed the other surviving witnesses, more than once? Made sure their accounts didn't change? Gotten as many details as possible?” 

“Well, Dad, there was only one...” Dean said. 

John frowned. “What, Dean? I'm not understanding this head motion--” He looked over at me. 

“Charlie's the only one.” Dean said hesitantly. 

“The only one what? Spit it out, Dean!” John sounded annoyed. 

Dean sighed. “I already explained it to you. Charlie was there when it happened-- she's the only witness. We don't talk about it because it upsets her.”

“Wait, your -- you mean it was her that was there when this thing attacked the camp?” John sounded shocked. “And it was her mother who-- oh, Jesus! I misunderstood what you told me.”

I tried to hold in the tears, because I didn't want to cry in front of this man who seemed like he was in a bad mood, but I couldn't help it. I put my head down and put my hand up to my eyes as the tears started. 

“Charlie--” I heard Dean say. “Charlie, come here.” I felt his hands on my arms, pulling me out of the booth, and he picked me up and carried me to the back of the diner, to the hallway where the bathrooms were. I put my arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. 

“I'm sorry, Charlie.” Dean said, rubbing my back. “I thought he knew what happened, and I didn't think he was going to talk about it here.” 

“He doesn't like me.” I sobbed. 

“What makes you say that?” Dean asked. 

“I can just tell.” 

“I don't think that's true. If he seems a little bit grumpy, that's kinda the way he is sometimes. Don't take it personally, okay?”

“Okay, Dean.” I said. He wiped my cheeks with his thumb. “You want to go wash your face?” he asked me, setting me down.

“Okay.” I said. I went into the women's bathroom and splashed water on my face and blew my nose. 

I held Dean's hand as we walked back out to the booth. As I started to get into the booth, John reached out and put his hand on top of my hand on the table.

“Charlotte-- Charlie, I'm sorry.” he said sincerely. He looked sheepish. “I shouldn't have said anything in front of you, I didn't realize...I'm sorry, kiddo.”   
He sounded like Dean when he called me kiddo.

I glanced up at him. “ 'S okay.” I mumbled. He gave my hand a little squeeze and let go. I slid over into the booth and looked at Uncle Sam. He had an angry look on his face, but when he saw me looking at him, he smiled at me. He turned my paper placemat over and said, “Want to play tic-tac-toe?”

“Sure.” I said, picking up a crayon. He drew the board and said, “Do you want to be X or O?”

“I'll be X.” I said. “You go first.”

I glanced up, and John was watching me and Uncle Sam. 

The waitress came over just then, and we ordered our food, then Uncle Sam and I continued playing. 

“I visited with Jim for a few days, he sends his regards.” John said. “Said he'd like to talk to you, Dean. You should give him a call.”

“Yes sir.” Dean said. 

“We worked on a couple of cases together.” John said. “Got some new information I'll share with you later.” 

The waitress brought salads and set them in front of me and Uncle Sam. 

“Charlie knows that the cool kids eat salad.” Uncle Sam said, grinning at me.   
Dean made a scoffing noise. 

“It's good to see she's eating that.” John said. “I always had to fight you to get you to eat your vegetables, Dean.” 

“What can I say, I've always been a carnivore.” Dean said. 

 

I sat quietly while they chatted about people that they knew. While we ate, I looked up every so often and a couple times John was watching at me. It made me feel a little uneasy, so I just kept my head down and looked at the table.

When I finished, I took out my 3DS. I was stuck on this one level of a game, and I hadn't been able to get past it the last couple of times I had played. It was making me frustrated. 

“Dammit to all hell.” I muttered as the character I was playing died again.

“What did you say?” Dean turned to me. 

I looked up. All three of them were staring at me. Uncle Sam's eyebrows were raised. 

“Uh--” I said, blushing. Mom said that under her breath a lot, and I had kinda picked up on it without realizing it. She never seemed to notice when I said stuff like that either. 

“I better not hear you using language like that ever again, you hear me?” Dean said sternly.

“I—uh, okay. I mean yes, Dad.” I stumbled over my words.

John chuckled after a long moment of silence.

“Dean, I think that's the first time I've ever heard you sound so...so parental!” He grinned at Dean, and I noticed he had dimples like Uncle Sam, but his were bigger. 

“Yeah, well, I'm learning.” Dean said. 

“Are we ready to go?” Uncle Sam asked. 

When we got back to the hotel room, Dean asked, “Are you okay, Charlie? You were quiet during dinner.”

“He doesn't like me.” I said. “He kept looking at me.”

“He's a little disconcerted.” Uncle Sam said. 

“What does that mean?” I asked. 

“He's freaked out by the idea of being a grandfather and he doesn't know how to deal with a little girl.” Dean explained. 

Sam laughed. “That's pretty much it. He'll come around.” 

I put my Hello Kitty nightshirt on and brushed my teeth, then I went and got MaryBear out from under my covers. I felt like holding her for some reason. I sat with Uncle Sam on the sofa and he read some more of the Harry Potter book to me. 

There was a knock on the hotel room door, and Dean let Uncle Bobby and John into the room. They went over to the table and sat down and started talking together. 

Uncle Sam finished reading the chapter to me, and we got up and walkd over to my bed. I got under the covers, and I heard Dean say, “Hold that thought, Dad, I'll be right back.”

Uncle Sam leaned down and gave me a hug and a kiss, and then Dean sat down on the bed. 

“I got a call from the laywer today, we have to go back tomorrow.” he said.

“We do?”

“Yes, they want you there too. Something about a fund for the kids.”

“Okay.” I said. “I won't run in the hallway when we go.”

He smiled at me. “I know you'll behave yourself.” He hugged me, and kissed my forehead, and I laid down, putting MaryBear next to me.

“Good night, Dad.” I said quietly. I still felt shy about calling him Dad sometimes. 

“Good night, kiddo.” Dean pulled the covers up, and then got up and went back to the table.


	9. Chapter 9

I dreamed about being at the campsite that night. In the dream, I came out of the tent, and Uncle Sam and Dean walked over to me as I stood there. A huge wolf- creature came galloping out of the woods and started to attack them. I stood there screaming, and when I woke up I was screaming too, and Dean was holding my arms and telling me to wake up. I was shaking and crying, and it took a long time for me to calm down and go back to sleep. 

 

“It's time to wake up.” Dean said, rubbing my arm. “Come on, Charlie.”

I groaned. I felt so tired! “I don't wannaaaa!” I whined.

“Well, you have to.” I felt him get up off of the bed.

“Can't I stay here with Uncle Sam while you go to the lawyer's?” I asked.

“No, Uncle Sam is going with Dad and Bobby.”

“Oh.” I sat up and rubbed my eyes. 

“I want you to get your dirty clothes together and we'll do some laundry later today.” Dean said.

“I have to do chores too?” I grumped, getting off of the bed. 

He turned to look at me. “What did you think? That Uncle Sam and I are going to wait on you hand and foot? You're old enough to do some chores.”

“I already know how to do laundry!” I retorted. “I did lots of chores with my mom!” 

“Then why are you balking about it now?”

“ 'Cause I don't want to do laundry!” I snapped. 

“If this is now it's going to be today, then I think you'll take a nap this afternoon while I do the laundry.” Dean put his hands on his hips and gave me a look. “And watch the attitude, little girl.”

I stomped my foot. “No! I'm not taking any more naps!” 

“You took a long time to fall back to sleep last night, and I can tell that you're tired. It would help you if you took a nap.” He tried to reason with me.

“Well I'm not gonna!” I glared at him defiantly. 

He sighed. “Okay, I've had enough. Bring me your 3DS.”

“Whyyyy?” I whined. “I need to bring it with me to the lawyer's so I have something to do!” 

“I've already spoken to you more than once about your attitude. This is the consequence.”

“Not FAIR!” I crossed my arms and pouted.

“Well, your attitude just lost it, so it's on you.”

“When can I have it back?” 

“Tonight. Get it for me, please.”

I sighed angrily and walked over to my purse, yanking the zipper open and pulling the game out. I stomped across the room to Dean, who held his hand out. I slapped the game into his hand, and he leaned down to me and looked me in the eyes. “You're real close to getting another consequence.” He said from between clenched teeth. “Maybe you need to sit in time out until you cool off.”

“No!” I snapped.

“Excuse me?” He glared at me. “At this rate, you're headed for a sore butt.”

We looked at each other for a long moment, and then I dropped my eyes. He straightened up and said to me, “Go and get dressed.”

I turned and walked back across the room, muttering, “I was gonna,” under my breath.

“What was that?” Dean called.

“Uh- nothing.” I said, leaning over my suitcase. 

Uncle Sam came into the room just then, with breakfast. He had stopped at McDonald's and gotten pancakes for me. I smiled at him as we sat down at the table. 

“Thanks for getting me pancakes!” I said happily. 

“Maybe that's how we should wake you up from now on, with pancakes, that way you wouldn't be so grumpy.” Dean said. Uncle Sam looked at him and then me with a questioning look. 

“Oh, it's already been fun here this morning. There's been lots of attitude.” Dean told him.

“Hmm.” Uncle Sam looked at me again. I blushed and squirmed a little on my chair.   
There was a knock on the door, and Uncle Sam walked over to open it. Uncle Bobby and John came into the room with coffee and a box of doughnuts.

“We didn't know if y'all had already gotten breakfast.” Uncle Bobby said.

“Can I have one of the coffees?” I asked. Uncle Sam had brought two cups in for him and Dean, and John had a drink carrier with four more cups.

“Uh, no.” Dean said. Uncle Bobby and John chuckled. 

“You like coffee, kid?” Uncle Bobby asked.

“She likes the fancy flavored coffees you buy at coffee shops.” Dean said. 

“But there's extras!” I complained. “Please can I have one?”

“The answer is no, kiddo.” Dean said. 

“Coffee'll stunt your growth.” Uncle Bobby said.

“I'm already going to be short, my mom said so.” I said to him. “So I don't care.” 

“No coffee.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Fiiine.” I said. “Can I have a doughnut?”

“Eat the rest of your eggs first.” Uncle Sam pointed at my plate with his fork.

I finished them off and then leaned over the table to look in the box of doughnuts. I picked out a chocolate covered one. 

“You like chocolate?” Dean asked, looking at me.

“Duh, I'm a girl. Girls like chocolate.” Everyone chuckled, and I said, “What? It's true, isn't it?”

Uncle Sam got up from the table and squeezed my shoulder. “Charlie, you are a trip.” He walked over to the closet and got his suit out, then went to the bathroom.

I ate half of the doughnut and then walked over to my part of the room to get dressed. I put some of my little toys into my purse so I could take them with me. Dean was talking to Uncle Bobby and John. 

“We'll do some tracking tonight, after we talk to the rangers again.” John said. 

Uncle Sam came out of the bathroom with my brush and called me over to him. I walked over and stood in front of him. I saw John watching us as Uncle Sam brushed my hair. When he was done, he handed me the brush and I took it to the bathroom and then brushed my teeth. 

“We need to go soon, Charlie.” Dean said to me when I came back into the room.

I bent down to put my sandals on. “Dad?” I said.

“Yes?” both Dean and John said at the same time. They looked at each other. 

“Sorry.” John said. “I'm not used to the fact that I'm not the only Dad here.” He and Dean smiled at each other.

“Can I bring my drawing stuff?” I asked.

“Yes.” Dean said. “You ready?” 

Uncle Sam came over to me. “Give me a hug, I won't see you tonight.”

“Why?”

“We're going to be tracking all night, so we'll be back in the morning.”

I looked at him and then at Dean. “But- but what if you get hurt? What if--”

“Charlie, it will be okay.” Uncle Sam soothed. “Don't worry about that.” He leaned down and hugged me. “Be good.” 

“I will.” I grabbed my messenger bag and my purse, and followed Dean out to the car.

 

When we got to the building that the lawyer was in, Dean said to me, “We're supposed to go to a different office.” 

We went into a larger waiting area, and there were some other people with kids there too. I sat next to Dean, feeling a little nervous. When a couple more people showed up, a man in a suit came out of a back room.

“If the parents would come with me, please, we'll have a presentation about the finances. The children can follow Miss Tucker, we have a room for them to be in with activities for them to do.” 

Everyone stood up, and I looked up at Dean and took his hand.

“I'll walk you back.” he said. We followed the woman down a hall to a room with a long table. There were printed coloring pages on the table with crayons spread all over, and in the corner was a huge plastic bin with Legos. At the end of the table there was a pitcher filled with lemonade and a box of cookies.

There were a couple of kids already sitting at the table coloring, and a woman sitting in a chair by the door.

Dean squeezed my hand. “Go ahead and sit down.” he said. I looked up at him, feeling nervous again.

“It's all right.” he said reassuringly. I walked over to the table and sat down next to a little girl. Dean left the room.

“Hi,” the girl said to me. “What's your name? My name's Carla.”

“Charlie.” I said.

She looked at me and laughed. “Charlie is a boy's name!” 

“It's a nickname, my name is really Charlotte, but I don't like that.”

“Oh.” she said. “I like your purse.” She said shyly.

“Thanks.” I said. The coloring pages were really easy ones, made for little kids. I took one and started coloring it anyway.

“Was that your Daddy?” she asked me.

“Yeah.” I said.

“My Daddy died.” she said. “His name is Rick.”

“Oh. Rick was nice.” I told her. He had been very patient with me when we were camping and had always taken time to explain things to me.

She stopped coloring and looked at me. “How do you know?”

I remembered just then that I wasn't supposed to have been at the campsite. “Oh, I, uh, remember when he was at the company picnic last year, he was nice to the kids.”

“Yeah.” She looked sad. “What's your Daddy's name?” 

“Dean.” I told her. 

“Did your Mommy die?” 

“Uh...yeah.” I said uneasily. 

“I hafta go live with my Gramma 'cause my Mommy is dead too.” she said sadly. 

“I'm living with my Dad and my Uncle.” I said. “I didn't know my Dad before.” 

She sighed. “Everything is changing.”

“I know.” I agreed. 

The door opened again, and a woman walked in, followed by two kids. 

“Go sit down at the table.” she said. I recognized them- it was the boy and girl from the playground at the memorial service, Mikey and his sister, Lacey! I hoped that Mikey would stay away from me. 

In a few minutes, it was clear that Mikey wanted to cause as much trouble as he could. He dumped the bin of Legos on the floor, and then pretended to trip and stepped on a car that one of the kids was building while sitting on the floor. Then he came over to the table.

Lacey had sat down on the other side of me. She was coloring too. Carla had started to ask her questions, but Lacey wasn't answering any of them.

Mikey walked over to us. “That's dumb.” he said.

We ignored him. He leaned over and grabbed Lacey's paper and yanked it away from her, making her scribble on the paper. “Whoops!” he said.” You messed up!” 

“Hey.” she said timidly.

Mikey leaned over to me. “Do you think you're good at that? You suck.” he said meanly.

I turned and looked up at him. “Nobody asked you, Mikey.” I retorted. “So just go away.”

His eyes got big as he recognized me. He turned and walked away.

Carla looked at me. “He's mean.” she whispered.

“Just ignore him.” I said. 

All of a sudden, Mikey was back, standing next to Lacey again. He had a cup in his hand, and he tipped it over the table, and lemonade spilled across, getting on the papers that Lacey, Carla, and I had been coloring on.

“Hey!” Lacey jumped up as the lemonade began to drip off the table onto her skirt. Carla and I jumped up too so that the lemonade didn't spill on us.

“Oh, little boy, what did you do?” The woman who was sitting over by the door said. “I need to run and get some paper towels.” 

“Go away!” I shouted at Mikey.

“Oh yeah? Make me!” He stepped close to me, getting up in my face. 

“You're just a big bully!” I said.

He got angry then, and I saw him pull his hand back. Then all of a sudden, his fist was coming at me, and I felt pain in my eye as he punched me. 

“OW!” I yelled, and burst into tears. I put my hand up to my eye.

“What's going on here!” The woman was back with a roll of paper towels. She came over to us.

I pointed at Mikey. “He- he hit me!” I exclaimed.

“Little girl, what's your parent's name, so I can go get them?” 

“Her Daddy's name is Dean.” Carla said.

“ My Daddy is D-dean Win-winchester.” I sobbed.

“And what's your parent's name?” I heard her say. 

“Get away from me!” Mikey hissed.

“ Our Mommy's name is Carol Anderson.” Lacey said.

“Thank you. I'll be right back. Little boy, you come sit over here.” the woman said.

“No!” Mikey snapped.

I heard her sigh, and then the door closed.

“It's okay.” Carla patted my arm. “Your Daddy will be here soon.”

Mikey walked around, kicking Legos across the floor.

The door opened again, and Dean walked in, followed by a woman and a man.

Dean hurried over to me. “What happened?” he asked me. He put his arm around my shoulders protectively.

“My brother hitted her.'” Lacey said. “Mommy, he was bein' mean to everyone again!”

“Michael, get over here now!” the woman snapped.

Dean leaned down. “Let me see, Charlie.” He took my hand away from my face and tilted my head back a little, looking me over. He glanced over to the side. “Can we get some ice for her? She's gonna have a shiner.” 

The man came over and looked at my face. “I am so sorry, sir.” he said.

Dean straightened up. “Just get an ice pack, please.” he said tersely. He looked down at me. “Are you all right, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice gentle.

I started crying harder, and he pulled me into a hug. 

“I remember that kid from the memorial service.” Dean said. “Lady, I don't know if your kid needs to have his butt smacked, or a shrink, but you better straighten him out.” His voice was hard.

“I don't have to listen to this!” she said. 

“Well, this is the second time he's hit my daughter, so yeah, I think you do.” Dean said angrily, glaring at her. 

“Here you go.”

Dean let go of me and took a baggie that was filled with ice from the man.  
“Hold this on your eye.” he told me. I held it on my throbbing face. “Are we done here?” he asked tightly. 

“Yes, I think so. The only thing left was the question and answer session and a group photo of everyone.”

“I'd like to get out of here.” Dean said.

“All right, sir. Let me go get your paperwork.” The man left the room again.

“Michael, you are in serious trouble when we get home!” the woman said. “Go over there and sit down!” 

“I didn't do anything wrong! They're all lying!” Mikey said.

“Nuh-uh, you are.” Lacey said.

“Shut up, twerp!” Mikey said, and shoved her. 

“Michael, that is enough!” his mother hissed. “Go sit!”

“Ma'am, you can't leave him in here.” The woman said to her. “He was too destructive. He dumped out those Legos, and he spilled lemonade all over the table on purpose.” 

“Oh, my God!” the woman said. “Michael, what am I going to do with you?” 

The man came back into the room. “Here you go, sir.” He handed Dean a folder. “The check is in there as well. I'm very sorry this happened.” 

“Thank you.” Dean said. “Come on, sweetheart.” he said to me. He picked me up and put me on his hip, carrying me to the elevator. I put my arm around his shoulder and leaned my head on him, feeling safe in his arms.

“Let me see.” he said, taking the ice pack off of my face. He inhaled when he looked at my face. “Yep, you're going to have a black eye. Sorry, kiddo.” He put the ice back on my face. “I don't know what the hell was wrong with that kid.”

“He's really mean.” I said. The elevator door dinged and opened. He walked us in.

“Can I press the button?” I asked.

“Go ahead, press the L.” he told me, leaning forward so I could press the button. “We're going to meet Uncle Sam and them for lunch, and then they're going to head out.” 

We drove to a restaurant that served Greek and Italian food. The men were already at a table when we walked in. Uncle Sam stood up and came around the table when he saw us.

“What happened to her?” He asked with concern. 

I took the ice pack off of my eye, and all three of them exclaimed.

“Remember that little brat at the memorial service who jumped her? He was there again, wreaking havoc, and he hauled off and punched her.” Dean told Uncle Sam.

“A kid did this to her?” John sounded angry. “I hope you gave his parents hell.” He stood up and came over to us. I stepped back towards Dean, feeling intimidated by John.

“Well, I tried, Dad. His mother didn't seem to want to hear it.” Dean said. 

“Let me see.” John said. He took my chin in his hand and turned my head one way and then the other. He gently touched the skin around my eye, and I gasped, because it hurt. 

“Sorry.” he said. “ It looks like it's just surface bruising. Does your eye socket hurt?” he asked me.

“Uh-uh, just my skin.” I said. 

“Good, it most likely is just a black eye and not a fracture. You let one of us know if you have more pain, all right darlin' ?” 

“Okay.” I looked at him and he smiled at me, showing his dimples. 

“Dad did some medic work in the Marines.” Dean said. “So he's kinda like our family doctor.”

“Oh.” I said. “He doesn't give shots, though, right?” I asked nervously. I hated shots!  
Dean and John chuckled. “No, I'm not qualified for that!” John said. “Just bandaging up injuries mostly.”

We sat down at the table and a waitress came over. “Can I start you all with something to drink? Oh my, what happened to the little girl?”

“She got hit in the face by a little punk kid.” Dean said. 

“Oh, the poor thing.” the waitress said sympathetically. “Can I get you something special, sweetie?”

“Can I have a coke?” I asked, looking at Dean.

“Sure.” he said. 

Everyone opened their menus and looked at them for a few minutes. After the waitress had brought the drinks and taken our orders, Dean said, “Well, the big news-- besides the fact that Charlie got a black eye-- is that there was a large insurance settlement for the whole group of families, and they're dividing the money up and putting it in a trust fund for each child. Available when she's 18.”

“Just in time for her to go to college.” Uncle Sam said. “That's great, now you won't have to worry about that!” 

“There was also a 'bereavement payout' that each family gets, it's supposed to offset the costs of the funeral and all that, but they paid for the cremation and all...so there's a little bit of money.” Dean looked relieved, and smiled. 

“You got money 'cause my mom died?” I asked, frowning.

“Well, no, Charlie, it's not like that--” Dean started to say. 

“Where did the money come from?”

“The insurance company.” Dean said. and rubbed his forehead.

“Why did they give you money?” I was confused.

“Your mom used insurance to help with her treatments, right?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“Oh, yeah, she had to spend a long time on the phone with them. A lot! She hated talking to them.” 

“Well, they have policies that help you pay for things like if you get hurt in a car accident or at work, or if you die, your family gets money. To help them out. Understand?” Uncle Sam smiled at me.

“Did my mom know that they were gonna give out money?”

Dean and Uncle Sam looked at each other. “Probably. When you sign up at a job, they make you go through all the different policies and decide what you want.” Dean said.

“It really makes you face your mortality.” John said. 

“What's mortality?” I asked.

“When you're going to die.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Oh.” I said. I realized that my Mom had known she was going to die, and she hadn't told me, and she had faced it on her own. I felt tears come to my eyes, but I blinked them away. The waitress walked up with a huge tray of our food, so I was able to rub my eyes without anyone noticing. 

 

  
I fell asleep in the car on the way back to the room. I guess getting punched in the eye and crying about it makes you tired. 

I woke up on my bed. Dean was sitting on the sofa, watching tv and folding clothes. I got up and walked over to him. 

“Feeling better?” he asked.

“Dunno.” I mumbled. I felt out of it and groggy. 

“After I'm done with this, I'm going to take a shower.” he told me. He handed me a stack of clothes. “Those are yours, put them away.”

I took them over to my side of the room, putting them on my bed.

“It's pretty messy over there.” Dean commented. “You should clean your stuff up.”  
“Like what?”

 

“I noticed you've got a bunch of toys on the floor.”

“I'll do it later.” I said, yawning. 

Dean stood up and carried the folded clothes over to the dresser where his duffel was, and put them away. Then he went into the bathroom, and in couple minutes I heard the shower start running.

Uncle Sam had left his laptop here, since they were going to be walking through the woods.

I walked over to the table and looked at the laptop, which was open and on. I missed being able to play computer games-- when Mom was asleep I would take her laptop and play almost every night. My teachers were impressed with how good I was on the computer. 

I couldn't stay away- I opened a new browser window, then went on one of the math game sites that I liked to play on. This was a great site, the games were fun and fast and I was really good at it. Dean was in the shower for about 15 minutes, so I got a chance to play a couple games. When I heard the shower turn off, I closed down the browser and then hurried over to the sofa. I found a cartoon, and by the time that Dean opened the bathroom door, I was watching tv. 

“It'll be just us for dinner tonight, where do you want to go?” he asked me.

“I dunno.” I said, yawning again. I flipped through the channels aimlessly. 

Dean walked across the room, and I saw him go over to the sofabed. 

“Charlie, I told you to put your clothes away, not just lay them on your bed.” he said.   
“I will.” I said. “Later.”

He turned to me. “No, I want you to come over here and do it now. Get this area straightened up. I told you to put away all your toys, too.”

“I said I would do it later, gosh!” I snapped.

Dean walked over to me quickly and held his hand out. “Give me the remote.”

I looked up at him. “Why?”

He huffed. “Because I told you to, little girl!” his voice was raised. He glanced at the tv, and then looked at it again. “What are you watching? Is this that reality show?”

“No!” I sat up. “It's, uh, a different one.” 

“Uh-uh.” Dean shook his head. “No reality shows for you, period. Now give me that remote!”

“Noooo!” I whined. “Why do I have to? I'll change the channel!”

“Too late. No tv right now, I want you to go straighten up your part of the room.”  
I folded my arms. “I don't want to!” 

“Well too bad, because I told you to.” 

“No!” I shouted.

He leaned over and reached for the remote. “Charlie, so help me--” 

I leaned over and threw the remote. It flew right by the tv, hitting the plastic edge of the tv screen and clattering to the floor. 

Dean straightened up, staring at me with wide eyes. “Charlotte Anne Winchester, I have had enough!” he yelled. I flinched at his raised voice. 

He walked a couple steps over to the tv and turned it off, then he walked across the room and bent down to pick something up. He came back over to me and I saw he was putting the batteries back in the remote. 

“You're lucky you didn't break something.” he said. “You just lost your tv privileges for now.” 

“What?” I looked up at him. “What does that mean?” 

“No tv until I say so.” 

“Noooo!” I whined. “That's not fair! You're mean!” I stomped my foot on the floor, getting angry at him.

He leaned down and put the remote on the coffee table. “Charlie, I don't want to hear it.” he said. “I want you to--”

I reached out and grabbed the remote. I was gonna watch what I wanted!

He stopped talking. “Charlie, put it down.”

I just sat there and looked at him, feeling defiant.

“Put it down now, little girl.” His voice was hard and calm. Then he reached over. I leaned back, away from him, and he stepped over to me and took the remote out of my hand. 

“This has gone far enough.” he said. “I'm tired of repeating the same things to you over and over again with no change in your behavior. You don't seem to care about the rules or about how you're acting; you are going to start caring.”

He sat down on the sofa next to me, and then turned me over his lap. 

“Dean!” I yelped. “Lemme up!” I struggled, trying to push myself up on the sofa, and he moved so that he was sitting on the edge of the cushion and my body was hanging over his knees. He landed three swats on my bottom and I yelped again and jerked my body, trying to get off of his lap. 

“Nooo!” I yelled angrily. “Lemme GO! Rules are dumb!” 

He responded by moving his leg so that my legs were pinned under his right leg and tucking me into his side. 

“I'm talking, and you're listening, little girl.” he said firmly. “You need to realize once and for all that you are not on your own any more. You cannot go around doing whatever you want.”

His hand fell on my rear once.

“Owww!” I whined, even though it didn't really hurt that much. 

“No more watching reality shows late at night, no more going off on your own, no more going to the playground by yourself.” Three more swats landed. I gasped, because those swats did hurt! Tears came to my eyes. 

“ No more complaining when I've told you to do something. No more sassy mouth and attitude about everything.” Two smacks, lower down on my bottom, and I whimpered at the sting.

“The hitting and kicking and throwing things is going to stop, do you understand me? I'm not going to put up with it any longer.” 

“Y-yes, De- OW!” I exclaimed as another hard swat fell.

“I am the adult and you are the child; I tell you what to do and you do it. I make the rules and you follow them. You got it?” He rested his hand on my lower back.

“Y-yes, Dean.” I relaxed, thinking that he was done. He tightened his arm around my waist and removed his hand from my back; I turned my head as he was bringing his hand down again, and I realized that he had just been starting. 

I whined wordlessly as he began to spank me, and as his hand landed again and again on my bottom the sting built up and I squirmed over his lap. 

“Please, Dean! I'm sorry, I'll listen!” I tried to sound reasonable. “You can stop now, okay?”

He did stop spanking me for a moment. “I can stop now?” He said, and he almost sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, I said I was sorry, okay?” I tried to get up, but he held me firmly.

“Hey!” I protested.”I said I was sorry!” I repeated.

“You don't tell me what to do. You don't get to decide that I'm done. I will decide when I'm done.” He paused for a moment. “ And I'm not done.” 

His hand began to fall again, but harder, and then faster, until he was peppering my butt with sharp swats. I broke down into tears, my anger and defiance gone.

“You are going to follow the rules, and you are going to do as you're told.” He emphasized every other word with a hard smack to the lower part of my rear end and I shrieked and kicked my feet. 

“Is that clear?” When I didn't answer right away, he spanked me again.

“Yes! Yes, Dean!” I sobbed out. 

His hand began to fall again and I wailed, feeling like I was never going to get off of his lap. My bottom was throbbing as several more swats fell, and I just laid there, not struggling any more, my chest shuddering with sobs. Then I realized that he had stopped. I gasped and sniffled, trying to get myself under control. 

After a few moments he lifted me up to sit on his lap. He took my chin in his hand and tilted my head so that I was looking at him, even though I could barely focus on him through my tears.

“I want to see a change in your behavior, little girl.” he said sternly. “Or else we're going to be right back here, as often as it takes.”

“Y-yes, D-dean.” My breath caught in my chest, and he put his arms around me and pulled me close. I leaned my head on him and sobbed. After a minute or so, I turned to him and put my arms around him, burying my face in his flannel. I knew I was getting tears and snot all over him, but I didn't care, and I guess he didn't either, because he pulled me in tighter. 

“You need to stop trying to take care of yourself and just be a little girl.” he murmured, stroking my hair. “Let me and Uncle Sam take care of you, we're the adults and that's our job. That's what the rules are for, to take care of you. You don't have to any more. Do you understand?”

“No.” I said. “Well...kinda.” 

“You took care of your mom and yourself so much that you stopped acting like a kid...you don't have to do that anymore. Uncle Sam and I are here to take care of you, to make sure you go to bed on time and eat vegetables and buy you shoes that fit and even spank your butt if you misbehave. That's what being a kid is, sweetheart. It's okay.”   
I had settled down, but that made me start to cry again. He rubbed my back and said, “Go ahead and cry it out, it's all right.” 

By the time I had calmed down again I was exhausted. 

“Do you want to lay down?” he asked me, and I nodded. He picked me up and carried me over to his bed, laying me down. He took a tissue from the bedside table and wiped my face, then held another one up to my nose and told me to blow. He wiped my nose and I laid down on my side. He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Get some rest, Charlie.” he said quietly, and then got up.

I dozed off right away, and then Dean was rubbing my arm and saying, “Charlie, wake up. I'm going to order us some Chinese food... what do you like?”

“Umm, sweet and sour chicken.” I mumbled. “And dumplings too.”

He chuckled. “Okay. You should wake up now.” He stood up and I heard him calling the restaurant.

I sat up and then winced as my butt came in contact with the mattress. It was still a little sore. I walked over to where Dean was sitting at the table, looking at a paper menu that the hotel had left in the room.

I looked up at him. “I'm-- I'm sorry I was bad before.” I said. “I'm sorry I threw the remote and was rude.” 

He pulled me to him and hugged me. “Good girl for apologizing.” he said. I hugged him back and leaned into him, putting my head on his chest. 

“We're going to go over the rules every morning, all right? To help you remember them.”

“Okay. I mean yes Dean.” 

He ruffled my hair and let me go. He looked at me. “I want you to go and do what I told you to do before.”

“Uh-- what was that?” I asked uncertainly.

“Put away your clothes and toys.” 

I turned and walked over to my bed, putting my clothes in my suitcase, and then I crawled under the bed to grab the action figures that I had left under there. I got distracted and started playing with them. 

In a few minutes I heard Dean say, “Charlie, what are you doing?”

I pushed myself out from under the bed and sat up. Dean was standing by the bed.

“Playing.” I told him. “I, uh, have this game that I do with them.” I felt embarrassed. 

“Oh. Well, make sure you put everything away.” He walked away again. 

I picked the rest of the toys up off the floor and sat on my bed with them, still playing, but doing it quietly. 

There was a knock on the door, and Dean answered it, and paid for our food.

“Come eat.” he called to me. 

I got up and started to walk over to him.

He looked around me. “Charlie, you still didn't clean up your toys!” he said with annoyance. “Do you need another spanking?” He stepped towards me and I backed up.

“No, I forgot!” I said quickly. I hurried back over to my bed and scooped all of the toys into my backpack and zipped it closed. Then I went back to the table. He was opening all the containers, and he handed me a fork. 

I sat down to eat. “What did you get?” I asked him. 

“Kung Pao beef.” he said. “It's spicy. Want to try it?”

“Uh uh, I don't like spicy foods.” I said. 

Dean's phone rang and he answered it. “Hey Sam, how's it going? You did? That's good, I'm glad they were helpful. Yeah I can check, hold on.” He got up and walked over to the dresser, where he had put the laptop. He typed something in. “It doesn't say anything on the website about that. Okay, well, good luck with that.” He laughed, and then glanced at me. “She's doing okay. We had some issues, but they've been dealt with. Yeah.” He walked back over to the table and sat down. 

“Uncle Sam says hi.” he told me.

“Hi Uncle Sam, I miss you.” I called.

“Did you hear that?” he chuckled. “Okay, we'll see you tomorrow. Yeah, okay. Bye.” He hung up and put the phone on the table. 

I ate a couple dumplings and then looked at him. “Can I be done? When can I have my 3DS?”

Dean leaned over and looked at my plate. “I guess. You can have some more if you get hungry later.” He stood up and went over to his dresser, picking up my 3DS. He handed it to me. 

I turned it on, but the screen flickered and then went off. 

“Dam--dangit!” I muttered, frustrated that it had no power left.

“Charlotte.” Dean's voice was deep and I looked up at him. He leaned towards me, looking me in the eyes. “You'd better watch your language, little girl, or you're going to end up with a sore butt and a soapy mouth.” 

“Huh?” I didn't understand what he meant. “How would I get a soapy mouth?” 

“Because I will wash your mouth out with soap. Haven't you ever heard of that?”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. One of my classmates said her mom washed her mouth out 'cause she called her a bitch and she threw up from it and her mom felt bad that she made her throw up, so she wasn't in trouble after that.” 

The corners of Dean's mouth twitched. “You just make sure you watch what you're saying.” 

“Okay. I mean yes, Dean.” I put the 3DS on the table and turned around. “Can I watch tv?”

Dean gave me a look. “No, little girl.”

I sighed with annoyance. “What am I s'posed to do then?”

“How about we clean this up and then I'll take you over to the playground?” 

I smiled at him. “Okay!” 

Dean let me play on the playground for over an hour. He pushed me on the swings for a long time, and then some other kids came over and we played tag while Dean sat on the bench and chatted with the kid's mother. 

As I laid down in bed that night, I thought back to when I had been swinging with the kids on the playgroud, and called over to Dean. “Look at how high I'm getting!” I had said, and he had looked over at me and given me a big smile, and it make me feel good. I had usually been on the playground by myself before, because my mom was sleeping. It made me happy to have someone to pay attention to me. 

Dean leaned down to kiss me and I put my arms around his shoulders. “Dean? I mean Dad?” I said.

“Yes?” he looked at me. 

“I—I love you.” I said shyly, smiling at him. 

He picked me up into a hug and held me for a long moment. “Well, I love you too, sweetheart.” he said. 

He laid me back down and smiled at me as I rolled over onto my side.


	10. Chapter 10

“Hey Sam...we're just finishing up a round of mini golf.” Dean said into the phone. “Okay...that sounds good. Yeah, we should be done by then. Okay, see you.” Dean disconnected the call and looked at me. “Uncle Sam said they're all awake, and going to shower, and then we'll go meet--”

His phone rang again. “Hello? This is he. Oh, hi. What's that? WHAT?!” His voice became loud and angry sounding. He turned and stalked away from me, and I followed him, feeling nervous. 

“Can she do that? I thought that the will couldn't be challenged. And the company said that the trust was unbreakable.” He sighed. “Jesus, she'll do anything to get money...all right. Tomorrow, what time? Yeah, that's fine. All right, thank you. See you then. Bye.”   
He hung up and then pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingertips, closing his eyes and sighing again.

“What's wrong, Dean?” I asked timidly. “Who was that?” 

He opened his eyes and looked down at me. “Nothing you need to worry about. Let's finish this game, huh?” He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

We had a couple holes left of mini-golf, but I could tell that Dean had lost interest. He kept looking off into the distance like he was thinking about something, and he started chewing his lip once. We finished the game, and went to put our clubs back. 

“Do you need to hit the restroom before we go?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I said. When I was washing my hands I noticed that my face looked a little red.

I walked up to Dean, who was on his phone again. “--could find somebody to deal with this kind of thing.” he was saying. He turned around and saw me. “Look, I gotta go. We can pick this up again later. Yeah, bye.” he hung up and took my hand. “Ready to go?” 

Dean and I had spent the day together while Uncle Sam, Uncle Bobby, and John slept. They had gotten back this morning from tracking, and since they had been up all night, they were exhausted. Dean and I went to see a movie in the morning, then went to get pizza for lunch. He had taken me to a playground near the restaurant for a while and then we had gone to play mini golf. 

As we were driving to the restaurant I noticed that my face and arms were hurting. I looked down and saw that my arms were red. We had forgotten to buy sunscreen, and now I had a sunburn. I tried not to be upset, but as I took the seatbelt off, I gasped because it rubbed against my burned skin.

“What's wrong?” Dean turned around as he took the key out of the ignition. 

“I—the seatbelt hurts my skin.” I said.

He looked at me “Yeah, you got a little bit of sun today. Ready?”

We got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. The three men were sitting off to the side in a waiting area, and I ran over to them.

“Uncle Sam!” I cried happily. “I missed you!” He leaned down and picked me up, swinging me up in the air, and I shrieked a little. 

“I missed you too.” He said, smiling at me. He touched my face gently. “Geez, you really got some sun today, huh?” He put me on his hip and looked at Dean. “Dean, why didn't you get her some sunscreen?”

Dean was a couple feet away, talking to his Dad and Uncle Bobby. He turned, and his face looked angry. “What, Sam?”

“You forgot to buy sunscreen for Charlie?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, and?” Dean responded impatiently. 

Sam gestured at me. “Well, look at her now! She's got a bad sunburn!” 

Dean sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “Sam, I've got more pressing issues to deal with right now than a little bit of sunburn!” he snapped.

John and Uncle Bobby walked over and looked at me. Then John looked at Dean, frowning. “You were supposed to get sunscreen, and you forgot? Dean, you can't do crap like that!” John admonished. “She's got pale skin, this doesn't look good!” 

Dean looked at his Dad and then at Uncle Sam. “Jesus Christ, gang up on me, why don't you? I forgot, okay? I screwed up!” he said loudly. 

“Dean--” Uncle Bobby started, and Dean turned on him. “Don't you start too, old man!” He snapped, and then he turned and stalked out of the restaurant. 

I started to cry, scared of Dean's anger. “I'm sorry!” I said. 

Uncle Sam put his hand on my head. “Shh, Charlie, it's not your fault, you have nothing to be sorry about.” 

“Dean's upset because he got some—unpleasant news.” John told Uncle Sam. 

“I'll go talk to him, the idjit.” Uncle Bobby said, and he left. 

A man came over to us. “Your table is ready.” 

“Oh, uh, two of our group left for a moment, can you show them where we are?” Uncle Sam said.

“Certainly,” the man smiled. “Follow me.” I made myself stop crying as we walked. 

He led us over to a booth that was in the shape of a half-circle. Uncle Sam set me down and then sat next to me, and John slid around on the other side so he was next to me on the other side. He turned to me and asked, “How's your eye doing?”

“It's okay, but if I touch it, it hurts.” I told him, feeling shy. 

“It may take a few days for the bruising to go away. It'll become some interesting colors!” 

“You're going to have a rainbow eye!” Uncle Sam said, smiling at me. 

John leaned back and looking at my back. “It looks like it's mostly on your front. You must have been facing the sun for a long time. Does your sunburn hurt? There's a pharmacy across the parking lot, I can go get some aloe vera lotion if you need it.”

I shook my head. “I'm okay.” I said. 

Dean and Uncle Bobby walked up to the table just then. 

“I'm sorry I yelled at everyone earlier.” Dean said, looked a little ashamed. “I'm a little upset right now, and I took it out on you.” 

John looked up at him and said sternly, “You'd better not ever talk to Bobby or me like that again, boy! Did you apologize to him for being so disrespectful?”

Dean's face got red. “Yes sir, I did.” he said, looking at Bobby.

“It's all good.” Uncle Bobby clapped Dean on the back. “I think we all need to have a beer and relax.”

Dean looked down at me. “You okay, Charlie?”

Tears came to my eyes. “Are you upset 'cause of me?” I asked. 

“No, no, it's not you.” Dean said. Uncle Sam got up so that Dean could sit next to me, and Dean took me in his arms and hugged me tightly for a moment. “It's not you at all, okay?” 

“Ow!” I gasped, and he let go of me. “What's wrong?”

“Sorry, it-- it hurt when you hugged me, 'cause of my skin--” I said timidly. 

“Shit.” Dean said under his breath. 

“All right, I'm going to go get some aloe.” John said. He got out of the booth. “I'll be back in a few. Order me a beer, would you?” 

“Where is he going?” Dean asked.

“There's a pharmacy in the parking lot, he's going to go get some aloe vera lotion for Charlie.” Uncle Sam told him.

Dean looked at me.”I'm sorry I forgot about the sunscreen.” he said. 

I smiled at him. “Its okay, Dean.” I said. 

A waitress came over to us. “Can I get y'all something to drink?” 

“Can I get a Coke?” I asked Dean.

Uncle Sam looked over at me. “You should probably have water. Getting a sunburn can cause dehydration.” 

“I don't like water!” I whined. 

“Charlie--” Dean sighed.

“We've got lemonade and apple juice, would you like one of those?” the waitress asked. 

“Can I get lemonade please?” I asked.

“Go ahead.” Dean said, rubbing his face. He looked tired all of a sudden. 

The waitress handed menus out, and we opened them and looked through them. 

“What do you want to get, Charlie?” Dean asked me. 

“I dunno...I'm not that hungry.”

As we waited, I started to shiver. 

“What's the matter?” Dean asked, looked down at me.

“I'm cold.” I said, and it came out as a whine, even though I didn't mean for it to.   
Dean unbuttoned his flannel, and then helped me put it on. Uncle Sam leaned over and put his hand on my forehead. “She feels hot, but I don't know if that's from the sunburn or not.” he said. 

John came walking over with a bag. He took out a clear bottle filled with green gel. “Here's the aloe vera.” he said. “I also got children's ibuprofen-- what's wrong?” he looked at me. I was still shaking a little.

“She's complaining about being cold.” Dean told him. 

John leaned over and put his hand on my forehead. “She's running a fever. That can happen with a bad sunburn sometimes. We can give her some ibuprofen right now and that should help.” 

“Dammit.” Dean said under his breath, shaking his head.

John opened the box and took out the bottle, removing the plastic wrapping and shaking it. “How much do you weigh, darlin'?” he asked me, “Do you know?” 

“Uh, I can't remember.” I said. 

“Well, we can give you the dose for your age- how old are you?” John looked at the side of the box.

“Eight.” I said. 

He opened the bottle and poured some liquid in the little cup, and handed it to me. 

I took it and looked at it. “What flavor is it?” I asked him.

“Oh, uh-” he looked at the box, “Strawberry. Does that really matter?” 

“Yeah, it does.” I retorted. “ 'Cause I hate orange and I won't take it!” 

“Charlie! Watch your tone!” Dean admonished, frowning at me. 

“Sorry.” I said, looking down at the table. The waitress brought our drinks just then. I swallowed the medicine, and then took a huge drink of my lemonade. 

By the time the food came to the table, I was feeling bad. I could only eat a couple bites of my mac and cheese. I was still cold, so Uncle Sam took off his flannel shirt and Dean draped it over me. He slid over in the booth and I laid down with my head on his leg, closing my eyes. 

“All right, Charlie, let's go.” Dean patted my shoulder.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Huh?”

“I'll take you back to the room, Sam'll bring our food in a little while. Come on.”  
Dean got up and John held the bottle of aloe vera gel out to him. “Take it with you so you can put some on her, it might make her feel better.” he said.

“Thanks, Dad.” Dean said. “We'll see you in a few.”

I was half- asleep when we got back to the hotel room. I flopped down on my bed as Dean looked through my suitcase. 

“Here we go.” he said, pulling out a nightgown. “Sit up, Charlie.” He came over to me. “This is sleeveless, so the aloe won't get on it. Do you need help?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled. He undressed me and put the nightgown on me, then picked up the bottle of gel. 

“It's cold!” I said as he spread some on my arm.

“That's the idea, it will help cool your skin.” he said. He put the aloe gel on my arms, chest, and face. 

“Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed.” Dean told me. I got up and went into the bathroom. When I came out, the men were there, and Dean was sitting at the table eating. Uncle Sam had put our meals in carry-out boxes and brought them to the room.

“Are you hungry, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked.

I shook my head. “Uh-uh.”

“Do all of your pajamas have Hello Kitty on them?” Uncle Sam grinned at me.

“That's a cat?” John asked, looking confused. He was sitting at the table next to Dean.  
Uncle Sam and Dean laughed. 

“How come you guys can't tell?” I asked with frustration.

“Well, we're not the target audience.” Dean said. “Although I'm not sure how Sammy knows about Hello Kitty. Is there something you're not telling us?” he smirked at Uncle Sam.

“Shut up, Dean. Jess liked Hello Kitty since she was a kid, it's been around for a long time.” Uncle Sam retorted. 

John picked up a shopping bag and pulled out a blue bottle. “I got some sunscreen for Charlie too.” he said.

Dean took it and looked at it. “Thanks, Dad.” he said.

“Uh, I can't use that.” I said timidly.

“What?” John asked. “Why not?” He frowned a little.

“Well, uh, I hafta use this special kind of sunscreen, cause I'm 'llergic.”

“You're allergic to sunscreen?” Dean asked disbelievingly.

“Yeah, I got a itchy rash all over when Mommy put regular sunscreen on me before. She said my skin is sens'tive like hers.”

“What kind do you use?” Uncle Sam asked. He walked over to his laptop, which was on the dresser.

“I can't remember what it was called, the bottle was pink and had a blue bunny on it.” I told him. 

Uncle Sam typed on his laptop for a couple of minutes, then said, “Huh.” He turned the laptop so we could see it. “Beach Bunny Organic Sunscreen for kids.” he read out loud. “Is this it, Charlie?” There was a photo on the screen of the sunscreen I used.

“Yeah, that's it!” I said. “She had to go to a special store to get it.” 

Dean sighed. “Great, where the hell are we going to find organic sunscreen around here?” 

“I can look that up.” Uncle Sam said. He turned his laptop back and typed on it for another couple of minutes. 

“There's a health food store about 15 minutes away from here, they say they carry it. We can go by tomorrow and get some.”

“Good.” Dean sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “I guess I can stop there after I go to the lawyer's.” He looked at Uncle Bobby. “Have you thought about anyone who could help with this...situation?”

“I'll make some calls tomorrow.” Uncle Bobby said. 

“What situation?” I asked. “Why do you have to go back to the lawyer's?” I looked at Dean.

He looked uncomfortable. “It...has to do with the estate. Don't worry about it, Charlie.”

“Why do you keep telling me that!” I clenched my fists, feeling frustrated. 

Dean reached out to me and pulled me over to him, putting his arms around me for a hug. “Because it's not your job to think about this stuff, kiddo. This is adult stuff, for the adults to deal with. Not you.” He let me go and looked at me. “You about ready for bed?”

“Yeah.” I said.

“You want to read more Harry Potter?” Uncle Sam asked me.

“Yeah, a little bit. I'm tired.” I said. 

“Let's put some more aloe on, and it can dry while Uncle Sam is reading to you.” Dean got up and the three of us walked over to the sofa. He spread the gel on me while Uncle Sam got out the book, and then we sat on the sofa and Dean went back to finish his meal.

Uncle Sam had only read a couple of pages and I was yawning. He hugged me, and I walked over to my bed. Dean came over, and then John walked over too. 

John leaned down and put his hand on my forehead. “Fever's down.” he said. “That's good.” He looked at me for a moment. “ “Night, little one.” he said, and he ruffled my hair and then walked back over to the table.

Dean hugged me, and as he bent to kiss my forehead, he whispered, “See, he likes you.”

I looked at him. “I guess.” I said. “He's kinda... scary sometimes.” 

He chuckled. “I used to think so too, when I was a kid. But he's a good guy, and he'll do anything for family. He's getting used to the changes.” 

I laid down and Dean pulled the covers up and tucked them around me. I rolled over and fell asleep quickly. 

 

The next day was a blur of not feeling well. My skin was tight and painful, and they kept applying the gel every so often. Uncle Sam read that a cool bath or compresses could help too, so I took a bath, but then it made me feel too cold. The fever kept coming back, and I felt out of sorts and grumpy. I barely ate anything, and napped on and off throughout the day. Dean had to go to the lawyer's, so Uncle Sam stayed with me, and I laid on the couch with my head on his lap and we watched a couple of the Harry Potter movies together. 

The morning after that I felt better. My sunburn had faded some, and the fever was gone. There had been another attack at night, further away, and Dean and Uncle Sam spent some time looking up information on Uncle Sam's laptop and talking about what to do.They were going to meet up with John and Uncle Bobby in a while.

I took my action figures out and crawled under my bed to play the game that I played with them, since my 3DS was charging.

“Charlie,” Uncle Sam called, “Come here.”

I slid out from under my bed and walked over to them, still holding my Hello Kitty figurines in my hands.

Dean and Uncle Sam were standing by the table, with the laptop open on it. I walked over and stood between them, looking up at Uncle Sam and then Dean.

“Yeah?” I asked.

Dean pointed to the laptop. I looked at it and there was a page up that said “HISTORY” and a list of websites. One of them was highlighted, and Uncle Sam leaned forward and clicked on it. 

The screen filled with the Math site I had played on. 

I looked up at Uncle Sam again, feeling a pang of fear in my stomach. His lips were tight and his jaw was set. 

“Well?” He said in a hard voice.

I gulped. “Uh--” I looked down at the floor, feeling my face get hot with embarrassment.They had caught me! 

He hit the back button and pointed at the screen. “This shows that the website was accessed when I was with Dad and Bobby, and Dean remembers that it was when he was taking a shower.”

“It- it can show that?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, my laptop keeps a record of every keystroke, date and time that everything was entered.” Uncle Sam told me. He folded his arms. “What are the rules for the laptop?” he asked.

“Uh—uh, you said I had to get permission to play on it.”

“And did you?” He raised his eyebrow.

“Uh...no.” I stared at the floor, tracing the pattern in the carpet with my toe.

“What else?”

“That you would check the websites I wanted to go on and make sure they were good.”

“Obviously that didn't happen.” Dean said dryly. “What else, little girl?”

“Uh—uh--you said I wasn't, um, 'llowed...right now.”

“Allowed to what?” Uncle Sam's voice was hard again.

“To, uh, to get on your computer.” I swallowed hard; my throat had gone dry and my stomach was twisting in a nervous knot. I clasped my hands together behind my back.

“You broke all three of those rules, young lady.” Uncle Sam said. “After I'd talked to you about it more than once, and already given you a spanking for it. This shows that you have a total disregard for the rules I made. You don't care about anything except what you want.”

“That's not true!” I protested. 

“Then explain yourself. Why, after being told more than once about the laptop, did you decide it was okay to get on it again?” Dean said in an angry tone.

“And this time, you snuck and did it while no one was watching, which is like lying!” Uncle Sam chimed in.

I looked up at him. “I didn't lie!”

“You were told to not get on the laptop again and you did it anyway and then pretended that you hadn't. That is lying. And it shows a total lack of respect for Uncle Sam and for me.” Dean folded his arms.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” Uncle Sam asked.

“I—I--I'm sorry.” I said lamely.

“You said that last time.” Uncle Sam said, “And it doesn't mean anything if you do the exact same thing again!” 

“I am sorry!” I cried out, and tears came to my eyes. 

“We just had another talk about the rules and everything the other day.” Dean said. “This is part of what I was saying-- you keep acting like the rules don't apply to you. Well, they do, little girl. We make the rules and you follow them, and when you don't, you get into trouble. This is what your life is now, following the rules and making sure that you behave. Your life is doing what I say, and doing what Uncle Sam says, not what you want, and if you disobey, you're going to be punished. You got that?” 

“Yes, Dean.” I said, feeling ashamed. 

“What did I say was going to happen if you got on the computer again?”

“Uh... a...a sp--spanking from both of you.” I gulped again. I looked up again, from Dean to Uncle Sam. “But I am sorry!” I exclaimed.” I didn't-- I mean, I won't-- “

“I don't believe you.” Uncle Sam said flatly. “I don't believe you, and I'm disappointed that you lied to me and disobeyed me again, and I'm upset with you.”

“Please-” 

I saw them looking at each other, and they were doing that thing where it was like they were silently talking to each other. Dad held out his hand to me. “Give me the toys.” he said. I handed him the figurines and he turned and walked over to the bed and then sat down on the end. 

Uncle Sam pulled the chair away from the table, taking my hand as he sat down in it and guiding me over to his side. He looked down at me. “Over.” was all he said, gesturing to his lap. I let out a dry sob and stepped forward, leaning over his thigh, and he put his hands around my waist and lifted me so that I lay face down across his lap. 

He began the spanking slowly, allowing a second or two before laying the next swat down, so that I had time to feel the burn of each smack before the next one landed, and the pain slowly built up until I was wriggling and sobbing. 

“I'm sorry, Uncle Sam, I'm sorry! Please, I won't, I mean I'll--” I dissolved into tears as his hard palm continued to descend on my bottom. I tried to slide off of his lap, but he tilted me further over and put his hand on my lower back to hold me in place. My head was lower now and I grabbed ahold of his calf and held on as he started spanking the lower part of my butt, and I knew I would feel it when I sat down. I squealed as his hand fell again and again. It was a few seconds before I realized he was finished. I was sobbing hard, and it took me a while to calm down. He stood me up in front of him, and I expected him to hug me, but he didn't. He took my elbow, and turned me around.

“Go see your father.” he said.

Dean was still sitting on the end of the bed, looking at me with his elbows on his knees.   
“Come here, Charlotte.” he said sternly. 

“But Dean--” I choked out. “Uncle Sam just- just--”

“Charlotte Anne Winchester. Get over here.” he said, pointing to the floor in front of him.

I trudged over to him with my head down. He pulled me so that I was standing in the V of his legs, and held my upper arms.

“Look at me, little girl.” he said.

I looked up at him, forcing myself to lift my head, and sniffled.

“You're getting a spanking from me now for the computer, and you'll be getting another spanking at bedtime for lying.” His face was stern.

“But- but--” My hands flew back and covered my already sore bottom.

“I don't want to hear it.” he said, frowning at me. “You have earned all of this punishment, because once again you didn't obey the rules and just did what you wanted. And I told you that I wasn't going to put up with misbehavior any longer, and that if things didn't change we were going to be right back here, and here we are again.” 

I squirmed, feeling embarrassed that he was scolding me again. I was learning that Dean always meant what he said. He didn't make a rule and then forget about it like my mom did. He didn't make a rule and then not enforce it just to be nice, like my mom. He didn't care about being nice, he cared about doing what he said he was going to do, even if it meant I ended up with a sore butt. 

He turned me, and started to lift me over his leg. I tried to step backwards, getting scared, and he pulled me back towards him.

“Wait, it's Uncle Sam's computer, and he already spanked me!” I exclaimed. “Can't that be--”

“Well I am your father, and I make the rules, and the rule is if you get on his computer you get a spanking from both of us.”

He lifted me and put me over his thigh, and I started to try to wiggle off. I didn't want another spanking, my bottom was still stinging! 

“Noo!” I cried out. “Lemme gooo!” 

“You're still thinking you can tell me what to do? When are you going to learn, little girl?” he growled. I felt his hand on my back, holding me there, and then the first swat fell. I burst into tears and wailed. 

I counted each time his hand fell, thinking that if I concentrated on that it would make it hurt less, but it didn't. Ten painful smacks, and my butt felt like it was on fire. 

Dean pulled me up onto his lap. “No more computer, little girl.” he said firmly. “At all. You got it?”

“Yes D-dean.” I sobbed, my chest hitching. He pulled me to him and I slid my arms around him and buried my face in his shirt and cried. He held me until I had calmed down, and then I felt the bed dip as Uncle Sam sat next to Dean.

I pulled away from Dean and looked at Uncle Sam. “I'm sorry I was bad and got on your computer again.” I whispered. 

“Come here, Charlie.” Uncle Sam said. I crawled from Dean's lap onto his, and he put his arms around me and held me. 

“Rules, young lady.” Uncle Sam's voice was stern. “You need to remember them. And if you are tempted to get on my laptop again, I want you to think about how much your bottom hurts right now and if you want to go through this again.”

“Y-yes, Uncle S-Sam.” I whimpered. I put my arms around him- they didn't go very far around because he was so big- and snuggled into his chest. 

“I've got to get changed.” Uncle Sam said eventually. “I'm going out today to talk to the police and whatnot.” 

“Why don't I come too, there's going to be a lot of ground to cover because it was at two sites.” Dean said. 

“What are we going to do with Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked.

“We'll bring her, Dad and Bobby will be there too, and between the four of us, someone will be able to watch her while the others are investigating.”

I looked at Dean. “I want to stay with you, I don't want to be with your Dad or Uncle Bobby!” I protested.

“Let's see how it goes, kiddo.” Dean said. “You should get dressed too. And clean up your toys.” 

I got off of Uncle Sam's lap. “Yes, Dean.” I said, and walked over to my area. I scooted under the bed to gather up the toys that were scattered under there. 

I heard Dean say something in a low voice.

“You know, I would have thought that having a daughter would be more, I don't know, dresses and nail polish and stuff...” Dean sighed heavily.

“Charlie's been through a lot, and she's kinda been on her own.” Uncle Sam replied quietly. “She's practically begging us to give her boundaries. Kids like her need discipline and routine.And she's a smart kid too, so we need to be on our toes and be right there calling her out when she misbehaves. We can't let anything go, so that she knows where the lines are.” 

Dean sighed again. “Yeah, I guess...I just feel guilty sometimes.”

Uncle Sam chuckled. “Who would have thought that with a kid, you'd be the potential softy and I'd be the one enforcing rules? You certainly enforced the rules with me.”

“Well, you needed it, ya little punk.”

“Shut up, jerk.”

“Make me, bitch.”


	11. Chapter 11

It took us almost an hour to get to the town where the attacks had been. John and Uncle Bobby had gone to the campsites to look around and were going to meet us at the library. 

Dean had taken me to the kid's area of the library to pick out some books, and then he had joined Uncle Sam at the computers to do some research. I was sitting in an armchair a few feet away from them reading The Red Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, which was a collection of fairy tales. 

John and Uncle Bobby came walking over to the computers. Dean sat up straight and stretched. “I'm so glad you're here, I do not like doing research.” he said. 

Uncle Sam turned towards them, and the four of them talked for several minutes. Dean stood up and came over to me. 

“I'm going to go downstairs to the documents room with Dad and Bobby for a little while, you stay here with Uncle Sam, all right?”

“Yes, Dean.” I said.

“You enjoying your book?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Yeah.” I said. “Mom had some of these books too, it's a series.”

“Good. We'll be back in a while.”

I read a couple more stories in my book and then realized that I needed to pee. I got up and walked over to Uncle Sam.

“Uncle Sam, I need to go to the restroom.” I said.

He glanced at me. “Okay, just give me a minute, and I'll take you.”

I sighed. “I don't need you to take me, I'm not a little kid!” I snapped. 

“Charlie...” he said, as he looked at the computer and then wrote something in his notebook. He flipped the notebook shut and then looked at me. “I don't want you getting lost or anything.” 

“I won't get lost!” 

He gave me a look. “I'm not going to argue with you.” He stood up and picked up his notebook. “Come on.” He held out his hand, and I took it. It took us a few minutes to find the bathrooms, and Uncle Sam waited for me in the hallway. 

When I came out he asked, “Did you wash your hands?”

“Yes!” I said with annoyance, rolling my eyes. 

Uncle Sam stopped walking and turned to me. “You need to curtail that attitude, young lady.” he said. “You know I have no problem putting you in time out here.” 

“Yes, Uncle Sam.” I muttered, taking his hand again.

We walked back to the computers and he started to work again. I had just started to read my book when Dean came back over to us with John and Uncle Bobby. 

“Let's go to the station, Sam, we don't want these suits to go to waste.” Dean said. He and Uncle Sam had dressed in their suits because they were acting like they were FBI agents again. 

I took Dean's hand as we walked out of the building, and he looked down at me and said, “You're going to stay with my Dad and Uncle Bobby for a little bit.”

I looked up at him, getting anxious. “What? No, I want to go with you!” 

“Charlie, you can't. We can't be dragging a kid around with us, it'll look suspicious.”

Tears came to my eyes. “But- but I don't want you to go!” 

He stopped walked and squatted down in front of me. “There's a big park across the street, with a playground. That's where you're going to be. We're not going to be that long, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay, Dean.” 

He hugged me and then stood up. We walked across the street to the playground, and John and Uncle Bobby walked over to a bench.

“Dean, did you put sunscreen on her?” John asked.

“Yes sir.” Dean said, “Before we left this morning, and she's got the bottle in her purse.” 

“Good.” John nodded. He and Uncle Bobby sat down on the bench and opened a folder they had. I still felt nervous, and now I was getting teary-eyed.

“We'll be back soon.” Dean said, and Uncle Sam gave me a quick hug.

“I'm gonna go play.” I said to John, and he glanced over at me and nodded. I ran away, blinking the tears in my eyes back. 

There were a lot of kids on the the playground, and I started playing with them. We played tag for a while, then stopped because we were all breathing hard. 

“Let's play hide and seek.” One of the girls said. 

So everyone got up and started to run around and hide. I looked around and most of the good hiding spots were taken.

“Come on, we can go in the bushes! He'll never find us there!” A little girl tugged on my hand, and I followed her to the edge of the playground. There were big fluffy bushes lining the edge of a low fence, and we stepped over the fence and crouched down behind the bushes. We sat for a couple minutes, listening as other kids got found. She looked at me and grinned. “This is the best hiding place ever!”

“Charlie?” I heard a voice call. “Charlie!” I didn't recognize it, but then I remembered I was here with John and Uncle Bobby. 

“Charlie, where are you!” The voice came closer, and it was a little deeper now. 

I stood up and started to walk forward. John was standing nearby with his back to me.

“Right here.” I said timidly. As I was stepping over the fence, he turned around, and walked quickly over to me. He bent down to me and said, “What are you doing?”

“Uh, we were, we were hiding in there for hide and seek.” I pointed at the bushes. 

“Well, don't do that again! You went off the playground...and I don't want you hiding like that, you need to stay where I can see you.” His brown eyes looked at me seriously. 

“But we're playing hide and seek!” I protested. 

“Not anymore.” he said, and his voice almost sounded like the growl that Dean's voice got when he was angry. 

“But--” 

“Are you really going to keep mouthing off to me? I said no! Understand?” He said sternly.

I gulped. “Yes-- uh, yes, sir.” I said. I wasn't sure what to call him, and I had noticed that Dean and Uncle Sam said yes sir and no sir to him a lot and he seemed to like that.

“Good.” he straightened up and then ruffled my hair. “And make sure you stay where I can see you.” he said again, as he turned to walk back to the bench. 

I turned to the little girl. “I can't play anymore.” I said. The boy who was being 'It” ran up to me. “Found you!” he said. 

“I'm not playing any more.” I told him. I walked over to the swings and sat down on one. I swung for a while, and some of the kids came over and joined me. 

“Charlie,” John called to me. “Charlie, come here, please.”

I walked over to him, feeling a little anxious again. Was he going to scold me for something?

He looked at me. “Your face is getting a little red, I want to put some more sunscreen on you.” 

“Okay.” I said. I got the bottle out of my purse and handed it to him. He rubbed some into my skin, and then handed it back. “Maybe we should see about getting you a hat too, to keep the sun off your face.” He smiled at me. “Do you wear hats?”

I shrugged. “I dunno.” I said. “Can I go play now?”

He nodded, and I went back over to the swings. 

 

A short time later, Uncle Sam and Dean came into the playground. I ran up to them and hugged them both. 

“Go and play for a little bit longer, I need to talk to Dad and Bobby.” Dean told me. 

After a while, he called me back over, and told me we were going to get lunch. I went to the car with Dean and Uncle Sam. 

Before Dean started the car, he turned around to look at me. “Dad told me you went off the playground.” he said. “You want to tell me what that's about?”

“I was playing hide and seek, this little girl said we should hide in the bushes.” I told him. “It was just on the edge, I wasn't trying to be bad!” 

“What's the rule?” Dean asked sternly. 

“Uh--” I wasn't sure what he was referring to.

“No going off on your own.” 

“But I wasn't! I was just playing hide and seek! I wasn't trying to run away or anything!” I protested.

Dean sighed. “Fine, I'll let it go-”

“No, Dean.” Uncle Sam said seriously. “She broke a rule.” He turned to look at me. “You need be thinking about what the rules are, and not about what you want to do.”

“Not fair!” I kicked the back of the seat and folded my arms. “You guys are being mean!” 

“Hey!” Dean's voice was raised. “Do not kick the seat, little girl!”

“We want you to be safe, Charlie.” Uncle Sam said. 

“No, you just don't want me to have any fun!” I frowned at him.

Uncle Sam looked at Dean with his eyebrows raised. “You gonna let all this go too?”

Dean sighed again. “One more thing, Charlie, and you're going to get a consequence.” 

As Uncle Sam turned back around and started to buckle his seatbelt, I stuck my tongue out at him. He looked at Dean again. “I can't believe- she just stuck her tongue out at me!” he said, aghast. He spun in his seat to face me fully. “Time out, young lady! And you will apologize to me for being disrespectful!” Uncle Sam's face was angry, and his jaw twitched.

I sank back in my seat, feeling guilty, and tears came to my eyes.  
Dean turned in his seat again to look at me, and he was frowning angrily. 

“Early bedtime tonight.” he said. 

“Noooo!” I whined. “Not faaaiir!” 

Dean snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “Enough with the sass and the disrespect, little girl. You want to lose your 3DS today too?” 

“No!” I yelled, getting angry now. “You're not taking it!” I stomped my foot on the floor. 

“How about I drive back to the hotel and give you a spanking?” Dean said.

“I wouldn't bother going back to the hotel, just do it in the back of the car. God knows Dad spanked us in the back seat plenty of times.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Is that what needs to happen? A spanking?” Dean looked at me. “Because you are pushing and pushing, and that's where its going to end up.” 

“I don't want a spanking!” I hit the seat with my fists.

“Then settle down!” Dean's voice was raised. “What are the rules?”

“Uh, always do what I'm told, don't go off on my own, always stay with a grown-up, no sassing, no lying.” 

“You think about the rules while we're going to the diner.” he said, turning on the ignition.

“Your time out starts now.” Uncle Sam said.

The drive to the diner was silent. When Dean pulled into a parking space, Uncle Sam turned to me and said, “Two more minutes.” 

They both got out of the car, and I saw Uncle Sam walk around to Dean's side. They talked for a moment. Then Dean opened the back door. He and Uncle Sam looked down at me. 

“You ready to follow the rules, or does something else need to happen?” Dean asked sternly.

“Uh-- I'll follow the rules.” I said. I wasn't angry any more, just feeling embarrassed.

“What do you have to say to Uncle Sam?”

I looked up at Uncle Sam, who still looked mad. 

“Um- I'm sorry, Uncle Sam. Sorry I was dis- disree-- disrespecful. I can't say it!” I said frustratedly.

“I know what you meant, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said. 

I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, then I threw my arms around Uncle Sam's waist and hugged him. He bent down and picked me up, and carried me into the diner behind Dean. 

John and Uncle Bobby were already sitting at a table when we walked in. 

“Can I get pancakes?” I asked Dean.

He and Uncle Sam chuckled. “You sure do love your pancakes.” Dean said. 

“They have lots of different toppings here.” Uncle Sam said, pointing to the photos in his menu. 

“I want blueberry today.” I said.

“She knows her own mind, don't she?” Uncle Bobby asked with a grin.

“Always.” Dean said. “Charlie knows what she wants.”

Running around for so long had made me thirsty and hungry. I ate all my pancakes and even drank a big glass of water as well as a tall glass of apple juice. The men talked about the terrain of the different parks they had looked at today. 

After we ate, I sat in the car and waited while the 4 of them talked by John's giant truck. Then Dean and Uncle Sam came over to the car. 

“I'm going to go with my Dad for a while.” Dean leaned down into the car. “Give me a hug.”

“Can I go too?” I asked, putting my arms around him.

“Nope.” Dean said. “I'll see you later. Be good for Uncle Sam.”

I fell asleep on the way back to the hotel, since the car ride was a little over an hour. I woke up when Uncle Sam was laying me in my bed.

“Shh.” he said as he took my shoes off. 

I sat up. “Where's Dad?”

“He'll be back later. Lay down and rest some more.”

“I don't want to!” I whined. 

“Give it a try, Charlie.” 

I sighed and allowed him to guide me down onto the bed. He pulled the covers up, and then walked over to the other side of the room.

I heard him open his laptop and then the sounds of it booting up. I didn't feel sleepy any more, so after a couple of minutes I sat up and got out of bed. I walked over to where Uncle Sam was sitting at the table, and leaned on his arm.

“Whatcha doing--” I glanced at the computer screen and froze. There was a photograph onscreen- I saw green grass and dark red blood and part of a person's bloodied chest, and I gasped.

Uncle Sam closed his laptop abruptly.

He turned to me. “Are you okay?” he asked. 

I swallowed uneasily and looked up at him. “What-- was that-- was that a picture from one of the campsites?”

He shook his head. “Charlie--”

“It was, wasn't it!”

“That's another reason why I don't want you on my computer, because there are things on here that little girls shouldn't see.”

“I—I--” Tears filled my eyes, and then I sobbed.

“Come here.” he said gently, and he pulled me into a hug. 

I rested my head on his chest and took deep breaths, trying to get my tears under control. I was tired of crying all the time! 

When I was calm I lifted my head and looked at him. “I'm okay.” I said. 

“Do you want to watch a movie?” he asked. 

He helped me find the first Harry Potter movie- it's my favorite- and I curled up on the sofa and watched that while he worked on his laptop. 

The movie was almost over when the door opened, and Dean came in followed by John and Uncle Bobby. They had brought subs for dinner and a Greek salad for Uncle Sam.

I sat at the table with Dean and Uncle Sam and John and Uncle Bobby sat on the end of Dean's bed. 

“I want you to have some of my salad.” Uncle Sam said to me.

“Okay. What's that white stuff?”

“It's feta cheese. Do you like cheese?” He speared a small piece with his fork and held it out to me. 

I put it in my mouth and chewed it, and then spit it out in my hand. “Eww, YUCK!” I said loudly. “That is gross!” 

Uncle Sam laughed. “It's an acquired taste, I think.” 

I grabbed my drink and took a huge swallow to get the taste out of my mouth. 

“I still want you to eat salad.” Uncle Sam told me.

“Just none of that stuff!” I exclaimed. 

“I'll try to pick it out.” he said. 

Dean set his sub down and looked at me. “So, uh, Charlie, I got a call from your aunt, the one we met at the memorial service. She wants to see you.” 

I looked at him and then at Uncle Sam. “What do you mean? I thought she went back to where ever she lives!”

Dean looked uncomfortable. “No, not yet...she wants to spend some time and visit with you.” 

“Okay, she can come here tomorrow and we can go on the playground.”

Dean cleared his throat. “No... she wants to take you out with her.”

I looked at him again, suddenly feeling scared. “I have to go somewhere with her? Why? Mommy didn't like her, she said she didn't trust her, one time she got drunk and she said that her sister was a lying-ass bit-- I mean, a bad word.” I stopped talking and gulped, realizing I had just said one bad word and was about to say another.

Uncle Sam made a choking noise, and the corners of Dean's mouth twitched a couple times. 

“Why does she want me?” I asked Dean, feeling more scared. “Is that why you've been on the phone so much? Is she—is she going to take me away from you?” Tears filled my eyes. “Can she do that?”

“No, sweetheart, she's not going to.” Dean said, but his voice sounded funny when he said it. 

“We ain't gonna let that happen, kiddo.” Uncle Bobby said. “Don't you worry about it.”

“I don't want to go with her!” I wailed. “She's a big fake!” Tears started to pour down my cheeks. 

“Come here.” Dean said, and I got off my chair and climbed onto his lap. He hugged me and rubbed my back. “Charlie, you belong with me.” he said quietly. “You're not going anywhere, I'm going to make sure of that. She won't take you, all right? It's okay, you don't have to worry about it.” 

He held me until I had calmed down. “Are you finished eating?” he asked me.

“Yeah.” I said. He handed me a napkin and I wiped my face off with it. 

“I want you to go take a bath. Early bedtime, remember?” 

“Awww...” I grumped, sliding off of his lap. “Not fair!”   
“Yes fair. That was the consequence for all that sass.” Dean wrapped up the rest of my sub. “I'm going to go start the water for you.” 

I got my nightgown to change into and then went into the bathroom with Dean. 

I heard the four of them talking a lot while I was in the tub, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. When I came out of the bathroom, Uncle Sam and Dean were standing by my bed, talking in low voices. 

I walked over to the bed and gave Uncle Sam my hairbrush. 

Dean sat down on the bed and looked at me. “You're still due a bedime spanking.” he told me quietly.

I had forgotten all about this morning. “Nooo!” I whined, and then I glanced over at John and Uncle Bobby. They were looking at a map that was spread out on the table.   
Uncle Sam started to brush my damp hair. 

“I'm inclined to go easy on you this time because you already got two spankings earlier today.” Dean said. 

“I learned my lesson this morning!” I said quickly, looking at him and then at Uncle Sam. “I promise, I won't do it again!” 

“It's still going to happen, Charlie. This morning was for the computer.” Dean said. “I told you that you were going to get a spanking for lying, didn't I?”

Uncle Sam handed me the brush and then he walked over to John and Uncle Bobby and said something to them in a low voice. 

John glanced over at me and said something, and Uncle Sam said something back. John shook his head, and then he and Uncle Bobby stood up, and they all left the room.

“Where are they going?”

“I didn't think you'd want them in the room when you're getting your spanking.” Dean said.

“What, now? I don't want--” I started to back away from him, but he pulled me towards him. “Nooo!” I whined again. 

“Yes. Come here.” he pulled me over to his side. “I will not tolerate lying in any way, shape, or form, Charlotte.” Dean said sternly. “And every time you lie, you're going to get punished.” Then he tipped me forward over his knees. Tears were already in my eyes.

He landed four quick swats, and my bottom was stinging all over again. I yelped when the first swat fell and burst into tears.

He pulled me up onto his lap and hugged me close to him. “No more lying. No more doing something naughty and then not telling us about it. If it happens again, you'll get a regular spanking instead of me going easy on you.” 

“Yes D-dean.” I sniffled, hugging him. 

“I love you, Charlie, and I know you can be a good girl.” he murmured. 

I tightened my arms around him, feeling happy that he said that. “I love you too, Dean. Dad.” I said.

He let go of me and I laid down on my side. He got up, pulling out his phone, and texted someone. 

In a couple of minutes, Uncle Sam came into the room and walked over to my bed.   
I sat up as he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his arms around me. 

“Let's try to have a better day tomorrow, okay?” he said. “I love you, honey. Good night. ” He kissed the top of my head and then I looked up at him.

“I love you too, Uncle Sam.” I said softly. He looked down at me and we smiled at each other. I laid down again and he pulled the covers up and tucked me in. 

“Charlie, we're going to be talking outside with my Dad and Bobby.” Dean told me quietly. “So if you wake up and we're not in here, it's because we're just outside the room, okay?”

“ 'Kay, Dean.” I murmured, half- asleep already.


	12. Chapter 12

“So, are we doing the mother-daughter special today?” The lady holding my hand looked at me and then at Aunt Michelle, who was sitting at the table next to me. 

“Um, no, do you have an aunt and niece special? We're having some 'girl bonding time'!” Aunt Michelle said brightly, but it was in a fake way. 

The lady began to rub my nails with a little white block. “No, I'm afraid we don't have an specials for aunts and nieces,” she said with a smile. 

My Aunt had come to the hotel room this morning to take me out and spend time with me today, promising a whirlwind of fun activities. Our first stop was a salon for manicures. 

“Have you had a manicure before?” the woman glanced at me, picking up a nail file.

I shook my head. “Nope. But my Mom and I used to paint each other's nails.” 

“Used to? Why don't you any more?” 

“Uh...she, uh, she had cancer.” I bit the inside of my cheek so that I wouldn't cry.

The woman stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. “Did she-- did she pass away?” 

I nodded, feeling a lump in my throat. She reached out and cupped the side of my head. 

“Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry!” she said sympathetically. “Recently?”

I nodded again, blinking my eyes rapidly so that the tears wouldn't fall. 

“Ooh, honey...” she said, standing up. “Can I get you a drink?”

“A Diet Coke would be nice.” Aunt Michelle said crisply.

The lady looked at her. “Fine,” she said cooly. “What about you, sweetie?”

I cleared my throat. “Can I have a Coke please?”

“Sure, I'll be right back.” She left the nail area and went into a back room. On the way back to us, she stopped at a chair and talked to a woman who was cutting someone's hair. They nodded, and she came back over to us. 

“My name is Marie, if you need anything else you just ask, all right?” she said to me, handing me the can. 

“Thank you.” I said.

“Can I get a straw?” Aunt Michelle asked.

“I'm afraid we don't have any.” Marie told her stiffly. 

She picked up the file and started to work on my nails again. She asked me about school, what I liked to do, and if I had any brothers or sisters. 

“Nope, just a Dad and a Uncle.” I said. “And a Grandfather.”

She laughed. “You say that like's a new thing!” 

“It is. I didn't know my Dad before, uh...before. Mom wanted me to meet him so that he could take care of me...after.” 

“I see. And how is that going? That must be an adjustment, living with a bunch of men!” She rolled her eyes. “I love men, but they can be hard to live with sometimes, am I right?” She looked over at the lady who was doing Aunt Michelle's nails, and they both chuckled.

I noticed that Aunt Michelle was sitting up straight and watching me closely. 

“It's fine.” I said. “They have lots of rules.”

“They do?” Aunt Michelle leaned forward a little bit, and her face looked hungry, like a hawk. 

“Yeah, uh, I'm just not used to it...'cause Mom didn't have any, you know, she was so sick I kinda did my own thing...” I felt uncomfortable, and like I was telling her too much. 

Marie patted my hand. “It was just the two of you?”

“Yeah. I took care of her a lot 'cause she was too sick to do stuff.” 

“Well bless your heart! I'm glad you've got your father to take care of you now.” She smiled at me kindly.

“What kind of rules?” Aunt Michelle asked abruptly.

“Umm...don't leave the hotel room by myself, always stay with a grown up, hold hands in the parking lot...” 

“Aww, it sounds like they just want to keep you safe.” Marie said with another smile. 

Just then a woman walked over to us. Marie nodded at her. “This is Brandi, she's going to style your hair, Charlie, if that's okay?”

I looked at Marie and then at Aunt Michelle. 

“Do I have to pay for this?” Aunt Michelle asked, raising her eyebrow.

“No, it's on the house. Both Brandi and I have lost family to cancer, so when we find out about a customer losing someone to cancer, we do something nice for them.” Marie told her.

“Oh.”

Brandi leaned over. “How about two fancy braids?” she asked me. “And I've got these barrettes. I noticed your purse.” She showed me two fancy barrettes, a bow with little ribbons hanging off of them, and a Hello Kitty button in the middle of the bow. 

“Wow, awesome! Thanks!” I smiled up at her. Brandi began to brush my hair. 

Aunt Michelle's phone rang and she talked for a couple of minutes about “Making an offer” and “Closing the deal”. After she hung up she looked at the woman who was doing her nails. “I'm a real estate agent, and I'm buying another property.” she told her. “Not sure if I want to keep it, or flip it.” 

The woman looked at her. “Oh, do you watch that show about the brothes who flip houses?”

Aunt Michelle rolled her eyes. “It's ridiculous, the repairs that they do are so shoddy, and the materials are cheap! In the real world, they would be out of business in a heartbeat!” 

“Oh,” the woman said. “I like shows like that.” 

“Well, if you knew the business like I do, you'd think it was awful.” Aunt Michelle said. 

Brandi brought over a large hand mirror and held it up in front of me. “There you go, sweetie. This is called a fishtail braid.” she said. She had pulled my hair back from my face with the barrettes, and then done a fishtail braid on each side. 

“Thank you, I love it!” I smiled up at her, and she patted my shoulder. 

“You're welcome. You stay strong now, hear?” She walked back over to her chair.

Aunt Michelle leaned over to the woman painting her nails. “I know I don't have to pay for that, but do I still have to tip her?” She asked in a loud whisper, looking over her shoulder. 

The woman and Marie glanced at each other. “Whatever you want to do, miss.” she said stiffly. 

“All right.” said Marie. “This just needs to dry, and you are good to go! What do you think?”

I had chosen a pink polish with a sparkly top coat. 

“It looks pretty!” I said. “Thanks.” 

“You're welcome, sweetie,” she smiled at me. 

I followed Aunt Michelle outside after she had paid. As we stepped off the curb, I tried to take her hand. She jerked her hand away. “What are you doing?” She looked down at me.

“Always hold hands in the parking lot.” I told her.

“You almost broke my nail, Charlotte!” she admonished. 

“Sorry.” I said. “But I have to hold hands to be safe!” 

“You'll be fine as long as you stay next to me!” she snapped. 

We got into the car and drove to one of the fancy department stores in the mall. As we were walking through, she stopped at the section with purses. 

“I need a new clutch,” she said, looking at some small purses on a shelf. 

I followed her around, but I was a little bored. The purses were mostly boring grown-up styles, made of leather, and expensive. Then I saw some backpacks, and there was one with pink sequins all over it. 

“Wow, this is pretty!” I said. 

She glanced down at me. “Get it.” she said. 

“I—I can?” I asked. 

She shrugged. “Sure, why not? Shopping's a part of bonding, right?” She smiled at me, but again it felt fake. I didn't feel any sort of connection with her. 

“Thank you!” I walked over to her and hugged her, and I felt her stiffen for a moment. She didn't hug me back. 

After she picked out a purse, we walked to a counter and she paid for the purse and the backpack. She handed me the bag to carry. I followed her around again as she went to four different makeup counters. 

She kept muttering about “finding the perfect shade of lipstick.” At each counter, she talked to the makeup person and had them put something on her face-- eyeliner, shadow, blush. I sighed and looked around me, watching people walk by. I was bored! I turned towards Aunt Michelle, wanting to say something, and I saw her take a sample lipstick and tuck it into her hand. Then she slipped her hand into her pocket. She had just stolen something! I looked away quickly as she turned her head towards me. What if she got in trouble-- would she get put in jail? Would I have to go to jail with her? How would I get back to Dean and Uncle Sam if we were in jail?

“Uh, I'm hungry.” I said to her. “Can we go eat lunch?”

“In a little bit,” she said. After the woman had let her try on three different lipsticks, we left the store and went into the mall. We went onto a fancy shoe store and Aunt Michelle tried on two pairs of high heels. 

“You said we would go eat in a little bit!” I complained.

“All right, all right, geez. Come on.” She stood up and slammed the shoes back in their box. She walked over to a pretzel stand and bought me a soft pretzel and a lemonade. 

“I thought we were going to eat lunch!” I said. 

“Stop whining!” she snapped. “I don't eat lunch.” 

We went to another shoe store and I had to sit on a bench outside the store because they told me no food or drink was allowed. I felt a little nervous because I was breaking one of Dean's rules- always stay with a grown-up- but I guessed that Aunt Michelle wouldn't tell him, because it seemed like she didn't care. 

She tried on a few pairs of shoes and bought three pairs. Then we went to a coffee shop, and she got herself a fancy coffee.

“Can I get one?” I asked. 

“No, kids shouldn't drink coffee.” she said.

“But Mom and I always got coffee together! She would get me decaf!” I protested. 

She gave me a look. “Yeah, your mom was such a great parent,” she said sarcastically. 

That hurt my feelings, and tears came to my eyes. I turned away from her and bit my lip so that I wouldn't cry. 

She grabbed my shoulder and turned me around abruptly. “Don't you turn your back on me when I'm talking to you!” she snapped.

I gulped nervously, not sure why she was so cranky. 

She led me over to a table and sat down. “I need to make some phone calls,” she said. I sat quietly while she talked for several minutes, drinking her coffee. “All right, let's go.” She said finally, standing up. 

“Where are we going now?” I asked. 

“I need to look at getting a new suit.” she said.

“Aww, more shopping?” I complained. “This is boring, following you around!” 

“Well, I really need to find one.” she said. “You can learn a little patience, you know.” 

I huffed at her and she ignored me. 

As we walked through the mall, we passed by an indoor play area that had all kinds of climbing equipment in it. Kids of all ages were running around and climbing.

“Can we go in there so I can play?” I pulled on her arm. “Pleeease?”

She yanked her arm away from me. “No!”

“I want to run around for just a little bit, can I?” 

“I said no!” she snapped. He phone rang and she stopped walking to take the call.   
I noticed a woman in a wheelchair sitting near the entrance to the play area. She was very thin, and very pale, and she was wearing the same kind of head scarf that my mom had worn when she lost her hair. The place where she had her treatments gave one to all the women that went there. My mom had picked a dark blue one. This womas was wearing a pink one.

A little boy called over, “Watch me, mommy!” 

“I see you, honey!” the woman called, and her voice sounded weak. She smiled at him and waved. It made me think of my mom, and I started crying.

“What- what is wrong with you?” Aunt Michelle looked down at me. “Stop it.”

“My—my mom--” I sobbed. 

“You need to let it go. Now just stop it.”

“I want to go back to the hotel.” I said. “I want to be with Dean.” 

“Don't you want to go and have a fancy dinner later? We'll get shrimp cocktail!” Her voice had a false brightness to it. 

“Shrimp is gross.” I told her. “I want to go now, please.”

She sighed and looked at me. “Really? Really, kid?” Her voice was hard.

“I want my Dad!” I wiped my eyes and sniffled. “And my Uncle Sam!”

“Fine.” she said in a clipped voice. She walked very fast out to the car and I had to almost run to keep up with her. 

We got out of the car and she handed me the bag with the backpack in it. 

John opened the door when she knocked, and stepped back to let us in. 

Dean was across the room, sitting on the sofa, talking on his phone. Uncle Sam was just coming out of the bathroom.

“What's wrong?” John asked, looking at me and then at Aunt Michelle. “Has she been crying?”

“And who are you?” She asked coolly.

“I'm her grandfather.” John said, pulling me next to his side and putting his arm around my shoulders.

“She just started crying in the mall for no reason and she wanted to come back. She's too focused on the death of her mother. She needs to get over it.”

“It's only been about a week.” John said. “It can take a lot longer than that.”

“Well, she needs to learn to not cry in public.” She looked down at me. “I guess I'll see you later.” 

She spun on her heel and walked out the door, closing it hard. 

I started to cry again. 

John bent down to me. “What happened?” he asked, his dark eyes searching my face. 

“She dragged me around everywhere shopping and she stole some makeup and I told her I was hungry but she said she didn't eat lunch, and then I wanted to go to the play area and she said no, and I saw a lady in a wheelchair who had the same headscarf that my mommy had, I could tell she had cancer too--” My breath hitched and I was unable to talk any more.

“Oh, darlin', come here.” John put his arms around me and picked me up. I felt a little uncomfortable, but then I noticed that his flannel shirt smelled like camp fire smoke, and it made me feel comforted. I buried my head in his shoulder and he rubbed my back. 

“Wait, you said she...stole something?” Uncle Sam asked.

I turned my head. “Yeah, we went to a couple of different makeup counters and I saw her sneak something off of the counter into her pocket!” 

He looked at Uncle Bobby. “That's...interesting.” he said. 

Dean came over, hanging up his phone. 

“What happened, sweetheart?” he asked. “Tell us all about it.” 

I leaned over to him and he took me out of John's arms and hugged me. Then he sat down on the end of the bed with me in his lap.Uncle Sam sat next to us. I told them everything that had happened that day. 

“Your hair looks very pretty in those braids.” Uncle Sam said, touching the end of one of the braids. “That was nice of them to do that for you.”

“Man, why does she have to be such a bitch?” Dean asked. “To a kid, I mean.” 

Uncle Sam shrugged. “Some people are just that way.” 

Dean pulled out his phone. “Well, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.” He stood up and looked at his phone.

“What do you mean?” John asked him.

Dean looked at his Dad. “I mean I'm going to call her and ask her just who the hell does she think she is, treating Charlie like that! She has no kindness or compassion, and she has no right to even think that she should try and get custody!” Dean's voice was an angry shout by the time he was finished talking. 

It scared me a little, and I scooted next to Uncle Sam on the bed. He put his arm around me. 

“Dean, is that such a smart idea?” Uncle Sam asked him. “I mean, think about it. Is is wise to antagonize her?” 

“I don't give a shit if it's wise, Sam, I'm too pissed off right now! Nobody treats my daughter like that!” Dean was still fiddling with his phone. “Dammit, I can't find her number!” 

“Son, put the phone down and step back a moment.” John said. “You just said you don't give a shit, but because you're too pissed off is why you should give a shit. Sammy's right, you don't want to antagonize her.” 

“Dad, I don't need a lecture from you--”

“Stand down, Dean.” John said firmly. “Take a few minutes to collect yourself.”

Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “All right. I won't call her right now. But I'm still thinking about it!” 

“Let the people that we've found do their job, Dean.” Uncle Bobby said. “Don't give her any ammunition, and she'll sink herself soon enough.” 

I looked up at Dean. “Do I have to go with her again? I don't like her, and I don't think she likes me either! I don't want to live with her! Please don't let her take me! I want to be with you!” I started crying again. 

Dean sat down and hugged me tightly for a long moment, shushing me. Then he pulled back and took my face in his hands. “Look at me, Charlie.” he said. “Look at me.” His eyes were looking into mine intently. “I promise you that you're not going anywhere, all right? We're working on that, and she is not going to end up with you.” 

I nodded, sniffling, and he kissed my forehead. Uncle Sam got up for a minute and then came back over to us and handed Dean a tissue box. He gave me some tissues and I blew my nose and wiped my face. 

“You said you didn't eat lunch.” Uncle Sam said. “Are you hungry? We can go get an early dinner if you want.” 

“Okay.” I agreed. “Can we get pizza?”

“Sure we can.” Dean smiled at me. 

We got to the restaurant before the dinner rush, so we were able to get seated right away. I was still feeling sad about my Mom and uncertain about the day. I didn't understand why my aunt had acted the way that she did, and why she wanted me to live with her since she didn't even seem to really like me or know anything about kids. And that worried me too. I didn't talk much while we ate, or even eat much. John and Uncle Bobby were telling funny stories about a guy they all knew named Ash, and all four of them were laughing a lot. 

The parking lot was crowded with cars when we walked out of the restaurant. I followed behind Dean as we wove our way between the rows.

“Watch here, these cars are awfully close together.” Dean said over his shoulder as we started to walk between two cars. 

Suddenly there was loud barking right next to my head, and a long, loud growl. 

I panicked, thinking that the creature that had been at the campsite was there. I screamed at the top of my lungs. “IT'S HERE, DADDY, HELP!!” I shrieked, and grabbed at Dean, who turned around and picked me up. I gripped his shirt, shaking, as tears poured down my face. Dean walked forward a couple of steps.

“It's just a dog, in someone's car.” Uncle Sam said. He was standing right next to us.   
Dean turned. “Look, Charlie, it's a big dog--”

“NONONO!” I screamed, burying my head in his chest. 

“All right.” Dean said in a soothing voice. “It's all right, you're safe, baby girl, I've got you.” he murmured as we walked over to the car. “You're okay, you're safe.” 

Dean tried to shift me in his arms and get his keys out of his pocket, but I was holding on to him tightly.

“Charlie, let go a little.” he said. I loosened my grip and he moved me onto his hip and handed Uncle Sam the keys. Uncle Sam unlocked the doors and then opened the back door. 

“She gonna be okay?” I heard John ask.

“Le'ts just get back to the hotel.” Dean said. He got into the back of the car with me.

“No, Daddy, don't let go.” I sobbed, as he tried to put me down. 

“I've got to put you on the seat so we can get you buckled, sweetheart.” he said. “I'm right here.” 

After he put the seatbelt on me, he put his arms around me again. I cound't stop crying. 

I had stopped sobbing hard by the time Uncle Sam parked the car. Tears leaked out of my eyes every once in a while and my chest hitched every so often. Dean undid my seatbelt and got out of the car, and I reached up to him. He picked me up and carried me into the room. 

I turned my head into Dean's chest. ”I want to stay with you.” 

Dean sat down on the sofa with me and I held on to him tightly.

There was a knock on the door, and I flinched and cried out, because it startled me. Dean looked down at me, and put his hand on the back of my head for a moment. 

Uncle Sam walked over to the door and let Uncle Bobby and John come in the room. 

“How's she doing?” John asked.

“Still pretty shaken up.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Why did she have to leave?” I asked.

“What do you mean, honey?” Uncle Sam looked at me. 

“Why did my Mommy have to leave the tent? We heard the noises and knew something bad was happening, but I wanted her to stay with me 'cause I was scared. I didn't want to be left alone!” 

“Well, actually, it's a good thing that she left.” Dean said. 

I looked at him. “Why?”

“If you both had been in the tent, the creature might have gotten both of you...so really, she saved your life by leaving the tent. It...it got her, and for whatever reason, ran away after that, and you were safe.” 

I started crying harder, overcome with sadness. The idea that she had saved me was too much to handle, and I started to choke on my sobs. 

“Charlie, calm down.” Dean said. He rubbed my back. “Come on baby girl, take a deep breath. You're going to throw up if you keep this up. Deep breath.” 

I tried to breathe, but my chest was still heaving. Then I hiccuped, and gagged, and I felt stuff coming up my throat from my stomach. I threw up down the front of Dean's shirt, and then more came up as I ducked my head, and it went all over my shirt. 

“I'm sorry Daddy!” I wailed, afraid he was going to be mad at me. 

“It's okay.” he said, sitting forward and trying to put me on the sofa. 

I clutched at him. “No! Don't leave me!” 

“I've got to change, and so do you. And we don't want any puke to get on the sofa.” he said. “Let go, sweetheart.”

Uncle Sam took my arm. He was holding my nightgown. 

“Stand up and let's get you changed, and then you can sit with me while your Dad is getting changed, all right?” he smiled at me. 

I stood up next to the sofa and Uncle Sam helped me take my shirt off carefully so I didn't get anything on my face or hair. I pulled my shorts off as John came over with a damp washcloth and handed it to Uncle Sam.

“In case she got any on her neck.” he said. 

“Thanks, Dad.” Uncle Sam said. He wiped my face and neck off with the washcloth, and then slipped my nightgown over my head. He picked me up and sat down, settling me in his lap. 

“I'm sorry,” I sniffled.

“It's all right.” Uncle Sam said, pulling me into his chest. “Relax and breathe, honey.”

I heard a phone ring, and then Uncle Bobby talking for a couple of minutes. 

Then I heard him say, “Dean--”

I looked across the room. Dean and Uncle Bobby and John were standning near the table, talking with serious looks on their faces. 

“I want Daddy,” I whimpered to Uncle Sam. 

“I think Uncle Bobby needs to talk to him for a minute.” Uncle Sam said. “Dean, she wants you, when you're done.” he called across the room. After a few minutes, Uncle Bobby left the room.

As Dean walked across the room to me, I said, “I need MaryBear.” 

Dean searched around in the covers of my bed and then brought her over to me. He sat down and I crawled onto his lap and he handed the bear to me. I put my arm around her and snuggled into his chest. 

“Does that bear have wings?” I heard John ask. He had come over to the sofa, and he handed Dean an open bottle of beer.

“Thanks.” Dean took a drink of beer and leaned forward to set the beer on the table.

“Yeah, it does, and actually...” he glanced at Uncle Sam. “Uh, Charlie said she used to, uh, see a blonde woman when she was little, who would talk to her when she was scared. Charlie thought she was an angel, and her Mom got her this bear, so she named it MaryBear, because the woman ...told her that her name was Mary.”

“What?!” John sounded shocked.

I looked up- Dean and Uncle Sam were looking up at John, who was pale. His eyes looked like they had tears in them. 

“Do you remember anything she said to you, Charlie?” he asked, and his voice cracked.

“Uh, that angels were watching over me, and that she was watching over me, so I figured she must be a angel.” 

“Oh my God.” John whispered. 

I looked at Dean. “What? What is it?”

John put his hand up to his eyes and then turned abruptly and walked out of the room.   
Uncle Sam got up and followed him out. 

“Did I do something bad?” I cried out. “Are they mad at me?”

“No, Charlie.” Dean soothed. “It's...well...” 

In a few minutes, the door opened, and Uncle Sam and John came back in. As they walked over to us, John took his wallet out of his back pocket. He opened it and thumbed through some papers, and then pulled something out and handed it to Dean. I sat up and Dean showed it to me. It was an old photo, of a dark haired man and a blonde woman, leaning their heads on each other and smiling. 

“That-- that's her!” I said, stunned. I looked at Dean and then at John, whose face was now red. 

“How do you have a picture of her?” I asked. 

“That's my Mom.” Dean told me. “She... passed away when I was 4 years old. She used to tell me...she used to say that angels were watching over me.” 

John put his hand up to his face again and wiped his eyes. 

“Wait, you mean, you think that-- that the Mary that used to talk to me is-- is your Mom?” I stared up at Dean. 

He nodded, tears in his eyes. “Your grandmother.” he said. 

I started to cry again. He hugged me to his chest for a long moment. 

Uncle Sam walked over to John and they hugged. 

“Charlie, when you're feeling up to it, I'd like to ask you more about when she used to talk to you, if that's all right with you.” John said after a few minutes. It seemed like everyone was crying a little bit. 

“Okay.” I said quietly. I felt very tired, and closed my eyes, leaning on Dean's chest.

 

I woke up three times that night, dreaming different things- that a wolf-creature came into the tent and attacked me and my mother; that when I got out of the tent, Uncle Sam and Dean were there and the wolf-creature attacked them; and that I was hiding in the bushes and the wolf-creature was coming after me as I crawled through miles and miles of branches and leaves. Each time I woke up screaming, “Mommy! Daddy!” and it took me a long time to calm down and fall into a restless sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up hearing a phone ringing. I heard a groaning sound next to me and opened my eyes. 

I was curled up on the edge of Dean's bed, and he was in the process of sitting up on the other side.

“Yeah,” he said in a hoarse voice. He chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, rough night. I'm okay. What's up? Okay...” I felt the bed move as he stood up. “You did? That's great...did Bobby call you and tell you about—he did. Good. Well, let me talk to Sam, and then we can plan a time. He's not here, probably went to get breakfast. I'll call you back in a little while. Okay, yeah. Bye.” 

I heard the bathroom door close and sat up. Uncle Sam's bed was empty and I was alone in the room. I started to feel scared. In a couple minutes I heard the toilet flush and the sink running, and then the door opened and Dean came out. He saw me sitting up and walked over to the bed. 

“Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes looked tired. 

“I dunno.” I mumbled. I didn't feel quite awake yet. 

“Do you want to try to go back to sleep for a while?” he asked. 

“Uh uh.” I moved over on the bed so that I was next to him. “Don't leave.”

He put his arm around me. “I'm not going anywhere right now.” I leaned into his chest and he smoothed his hand over my hair. 

“Your braids stayed in.” he said. His phone beeped and he looked at the screen. “Sammy's on his way with breakfast, you hungry?”

“I dunno.” I mumbled again, yawning. 

“I think we should take it easy today,” he told me. “You had a rough day yesterday.” 

I turned to him and put my arms around his middle, and he pulled me into his lap and hugged me. 

“I miss my Mommy.” I said. “I-- I want her.” I felt tears gathering in my eyes, and then sadness welled up in my chest. “I w-want my mommy, I want to—to be with h-her!” I burst out, and then I started to cry in loud, gulping sobs. 

“Hey, whoa, whoa.” Dean pulled back and looked down at me. “I know you miss her, but you can't—you can't be with her, I mean, you understand that, right?” His eyes moved back and forth, searching mine. 

“Yes, but—but--if she hadn't left that tent she'd still be alive!” 

He hugged me again. “No, you don't know that, Charlie. You can't say one way or the other what would have happened.” 

The door opened, and Uncle Sam came into the room. I heard paper rustling, and smelled coffee. 

“What's going on? Is she okay?” 

“She's sad,” Dean said. He looked down at me. “You want to try and eat something?”

“Charlie, I got you pancakes. I discovered that the Pancake House does carry-out, and I got you chocolate chip pancakes.” Uncle Sam told me. 

I looked at him through my tears and tried to smile. “Th- thanks, Uncle S-sam.” My chest hitched. I got up and Dean and I walked over to the table and the three of us sat down. Uncle Sam cut my pancakes up for me and then slid the container over in front of me. Then he slid a cup next to it.

I looked at him. “What's that?”

“I got a latte this morning, I need the extra caffeine. You can have some.”

“Ooh!” I picked the cup up. 

“Just a couple of sips!” he said. 

Dean shook his head. “You two and your fancy coffee and your salad- am I living with a couple of hipsters?” 

I set the cup down. “Thanks, Uncle Sam!” I smiled at him.

“I got a call from Bobby's people, they want to meet today. I have call back and set up a time.” Dean said. 

“Can I go with you?” I asked hopefully. 

Dean looked uncomfortable. “No, this is a grownup meeting about... your mom's estate.”

“But I can wait in the lobby like before!” 

He shook his head. “No, this is not the lawyers, it's...somewhere else.” He looked at Uncle Sam.

“You'll stay here with me, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said. 

“But I don't want to stay with you! I want Daddy!” I looked at both of them. “I don't want him to leave!” 

“Charlie, I have to go to this meeting. You're not going to be alone.” Dean explained. 

“It's all right,” Uncle Sam said reassuringly. 

“NO!” I got off of my chair and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door. As I was fumbling with the doorknob, it opened, and Dean pushed his way in. “You are not to lock the bathroom door ever again, you hear me?” he asked sternly, and I burst into tears.

“Dean!” I heard Uncle Sam admonish. 

Dean picked me up and carried me back out to the room. He sat down at the table again and put me in his lap. “Sweetheart, it'll be okay,” he said. “I shouldn't be gone long.”

“What would you like to do today?” Uncle Sam asked.

“I don't know!” I grumped, wiping my eyes. 

“I think we should all take things easy today.” Dean said to Uncle Sam. “Because she was up so much last night.” 

“We all were,” Uncle Sam chuckled, taking a drink of his latte.

I felt guilty then- I had kept them awake. “Sorry I kept waking you up.” I muttered, ducking my head. 

“No, it's okay.” Dean rubbed my back. “We're not upset or anything. Are you going to eat any more?”

“Uh uh.” I said. 

“Get up, I need to make a phone call.” Dean said. I got off of his lap and he took his phone out and then walked towards the door. I followed him, unsure of where he was going.

He turned to me. “No, Charlie, I need to have a private conversation. I'm just going to be out front for a couple of minutes.” He opened the door and walked out, and I stood there for a moment, trying not to cry. 

“Charlie, come here,” Uncle Sam said. I turned and walked over to him. 

“I'm here, you're not alone,” he told me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, then I remembered. “You got me out of the bushes.” I said. “You carried me to your car.” 

He smiled at me, “Yes, I did. Both Dean and I were there to help you, do you remember?”

I nodded, and leaned on his arm. He moved it and put his arm around my shoulders. “Do you want to go out somewhere today? Or just stay here?”

I shrugged. 

“Well, think about it.” he said. He stood up and started to clean up the trash on the table.

Dean came back into the room. 

“I'm going to meet with them in about 45 minutes,” he told us. He got clothes out of his duffle, and went into the bathroom to change. 

“Please can I go with you?” I asked him when he came out. 

“No, Charlie, not this time.” He sat on the edge of the bed to put his boots on.

I took his arm. “Please, Daddy!” I begged. 

“Charlie. I said no. Now let go.” he said with annoyance. 

I let go of his arm and started to cry. He sighed and rubbed his face.

“Look, I know this is not the best time to leave you, but I've got to meet with these people. It's important. I won't be gone long at all, okay?” He turned to me and kissed my forehead, then stood up and wallked over to his dresser to get his keys. I got off of the bed and walked over to him, holding my arms up for a hug. He bent down and hugged me quickly. 

“All right, I''ll see you.” he said. 

“Let's find something to watch,” Uncle Sam said. I followed him over to the sofa, trying to stop crying, and sat next to him. He turned on the t.v., and found that one of the cooking shows that I like to watch was having a marathon. 

“My Dad and Uncle Bobby may show up in a while.” Uncle Sam said. “I'm going to go take a shower, all right?”

“Okay,” I said. He got some clothes out of his duffle and went into the bathroom. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I figured it was probably John and Uncle Bobby, so I got up and walked over to open it. 

I unlocked the door and opened it, and Aunt Michelle stood there. 

“What- what are you doing here?” I asked. She leaned into the room, looking around. “Is your father here?”

“Uh, no, he hadda go out-” I said. 

She looked down at me, then she reached down and grabbed my wrist. “Come on.” she said, dragging me out of the room.

“What-- where are we going?” I asked her, feeling scared. 

She walked us to her car, which was right in front of our room. She shoved me into the front seat and then got in quickly. The engine was already on, and she turned the wheel and the car squealed out of the parking lot fast. 

“What are you doing?” I cried out. “Daddy didn't say that we were getting together today!” I turned back to watch out the window as the car sped away from the hotel.

“Oh, now it's 'Daddy'?” she asked in a hard voice. 

I grabbed onto the door handle--it moved a little bit, but the door wouldn't open. 

“Hey!” she shouted. “Stop that! You're not going anywhere!” 

I looked at her, getting more scared. “Where are you taking me?” 

“None of your business,” she snapped.

“I don't want to be with you!” I whined. 

“Well I want what's rightfully mine, and I'm going to get it!” she snarled. I turned towards the door again and put my hand on the handle. 

She grabbed the back of my neck tightly and turned me towards her. She leaned down into my face. “Don't you touch that fucking door again or I'll throw you in the trunk!” she said in a low voice. 

I started to cry. “Let me go!” Fear was twisting my stomach now. No one had ever talked to me like that or threatened me. 

She let go of my neck and gave me a little shove. “Not until I get what I want,” she said.

“No wonder Mommy didn't like you, you're mean!” I said. 

I saw her hand coming at me, and it hit my face so hard that my head slammed into the window. I felt a sting in my cheek and put my hand up, gasping. When I took my hand away, there was blood on my fingers. I looked up at her, stunned.

She glanced at me and chuckled. “Oh, yeah, my ring tends to do that. Sorry.” 

I rubbed the side my head where it was now throbbing and tried not to cry. 

“So 'Mommy' didn't like me, huh? What did she say about me? Huh?” She looked over at me as she drove. “Did she tell you how our parents always favored her in everything, that I got left out in the cold all the time, and they cut me out of the will and I didn't get a cent?” 

“She said you were mean to her.” I said quietly. “That you always wanted all the attention and that she had to take care of her mommy and daddy by herself when they got sick, that you walked away.” 

She slammed her hand on the steering wheel and I jumped. “That's such a bunch of lies! They shut me out! They refused everything I offered! And I was mean to her? Oh, that's just too funny!” She laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. 

“I-- I want to be with my Daddy.” I said timidly. “Please take me back.” 

“Hell no, kid,” she said in a hard voice. “Not until I get some sort of agreement about the money. I want what should have been mine in the first place!” 

“I can't do anything about that!” I protested. “I'm just a kid!” 

“Yes, but your 'Daddy' can.” she said. “He can talk to the judge and overturn everything.” 

“Please!” I exclaimed, starting to cry harder. “I just want to go back!” 

“NO!” she shouted, and she slapped me again. “Shut UP, and stop CRYING!”

My cheek was throbbing and stinging now. I curled up in a little ball and tried to stop crying, afraid she would hit me again. 

We pulled into the parking lot of another hotel, in front of a room where the door was open. 

“What the fuck?” She said under her breath. She grabbed my wrist. “Come on!” she said. “And you, keep your damn mouth shut if you know what's good for you!” 

She pulled me out of the car and stormed into the room. There was a man standing just inside the door, and two women wearing maid uniforms were going through the drawers and packing them into suitcases.

“What the hell is going on?” Aunt Michelle said in a loud voice. 

The man turned. “I'm sorry, miss, your credit card has been rejected, and you have to leave. We couldn't get ahold of you, so I'm having the room packed up.” 

“What? That's impossible! My credit is exemplary!”

He shrugged. “I don't know, ma'am.”

“You go call them again and I want to talk to them!” she snapped. 

I noticed the man looking at me curiously. I looked down and realized that I was still wearing my nightgown, and that my feet were bare.

“Has she been staying here with you? I need to charge another person to the room if that's the case.” 

“No, she's just visiting.” Aunt Michelle pulled me behind her, so that the man couldn't see me as well.

“You all need to leave.” she said curtly.

“Ma'am, you'll need to be out of here in 30 minutes.” he said. 

“Fine, I will, just let me pack my things myself! Get out!” she shouted at the women.

The man nodded at them and they scurried out, then after looking at us, the man left, closing the door behind him. 

She walked over to the bed and pushed me. “Sit down and shut up.” She let go of my arm and pulled out her cell phone, walking away from me. I stood there, unsure of what to do.

She started to dial her phone, and then there was a knock on the door. 

She sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. 

“Go to the bathroom and close the door,” she said, walking towards the door. “Go!” she snapped over her shoulder. 

She opened the door, and said, “Yes?” 

“Michelle Tyler?” I heard a man say.

“Yes? What do you want?” 

I peered around her. There were two policemen standing outside the door. “I'm Officer Lewis, this is Officer Preston. We need for you to come to the station with us, we have some questions for you.”

“About what?” she snapped. 

“Your credit cards.”

“Why do I need to come to the station? Why can't you ask me here?” 

“Police procedure, ma'am.” I could see Officer Lewis looking over her shoulder into the room. He saw me, and I saw him glance at the other officer. “Ma'am, could we come in for a moment?”

She sighed, and stepped back. “Will we talk here then?”

“Uh, sure...” The policemen walked into the room and both of them looked at me. 

“Who is this, ma'am?” Officer Lewis asked her.

“My niece, she's visiting.” she told him. 

The officers glanced at each other, and it made me think of how Dean and Uncle Sam did their 'talking without speaking' thing. 

Officer Lewis stepped towards me. “What's your name?” 

“Uh--” I looked at Aunt Michelle, who had turned to me and was glaring at me.

“Why do you need to know that?” she snapped.

“Is that blood on your cheek?” He asked me. He looked at Officer Preston. 

Officer Preston stepped towards Aunt Michelle. “Ma'am, step over here with me.” He tried to get her to move over near the window, away from the door and me. 

Officer Lewis bent down to look me in the eyes. “What's your name, sweetie?” he asked gently. 

“Uh- Charl-- Charlotte Winchester.”

He straightened up. “How old are you?” 

“Eight years old.” I told him. He turned away from me and talked into the little radio on his shoulder. “Yes, I've got a caucasian female, juvenile, blonde hair, green eyes, about...46 inches tall... name of Charlotte Winchester.” His radio crackled and then I heard talking, but I couldn't make out any words.

“Yes, in progress. Okay. Got it. 10-4.” 

He turned to Officer Preston and nodded. 

Officer Preston took handcuffs off of his belt and said, “Ma'am, I'm placing you under arrest for the attemped kidnapping of a juvenile under the state code of 134-B.”

“What? I didn't-- I didn't kidnap her! This is ridiculous!” Aunt Michelle said. “She's visiting me!” 

“Well, the call came in just as we pulled into the lot.” Officer Lewis said. “She's just been reported as a missing person.” 

He looked at me. “I'm going to take you to the station, so that you can tell us what happened, and we'll get someone to look at your face. Come outside with me.” 

I followed him out. Officer Preston was walking Aunt Michelle to a car. A small crowd had gathered on the sidewalk. 

“I just heard the Amber Alert!” said a woman. “Is that the kid?” 

Officer Lewis led me to his car. He opened the back door and said, “Get in.” He left the door open and walked around to his trunk, then he came back over to me. He wrapped a blanket around me and handed me a small brown teddy bear. 

“We keep stuffed animals in our cars to give out to kids, to make them feel better,” he said. 

“Thank you.” I said timidly. 

He spoke into his shoulder radio again. “TF154 en route to the station. I have the juvenile with me.”

We pulled into a police station, and Officer Lewis got out of the car quickly. I realized that there were no door handles on the inside of the car! He opened the door for me and I got out.

“Uh, hold on,” he said. “I know there's broken glass in the parking lot.” He bent down and picked me up, and carried me into the station. He set me down when we walked into the lobby.

We walked through a large room with lots of desks and phones and noise, down a hallway into a small room with a rickety metal table and a couple of chairs. There was a large mirror on one wall. 

“Go ahead and have a seat.” he said.

“Are you going to call my Daddy?” I asked. 

“Yes, we are. We need to talk to you first and find out what happened, all right?” 

He left the room, and then he and a female officer named Officer Novak came in with a pad of paper and a pencil.

They sat down across from me and looked at me. “Why don't you start at the beginning? When did she take you?”

I started telling them what had happened, and then I had to explain about my Mom and what had happened to her, and why I was in a hotel, and about Dean. I sat in the chair and hugged the bear to me, shivering a little bit-- it was cold in the room. Then after I told them everything and they wrote it all down, they asked me to tell it again and stopped me to ask questions almost every time I said something. I was tired of talking about it and saying the same things over and over. It felt like we had been in here for a long time. Then there was a knock on the door and it opened.

A man in a suit poked his head in, looked around and saw us, and said, “Oh.” He leaned out of the room. “In here,” he called. 

We heard voices coming down the hallway, and then the door swung open. Daddy and Uncle Sam and John stood behind another man in a suit.

“Daddy!” I said, getting up from the table.

Dean walked around the table and grabbed me up in a hug. “Oh, baby girl, I was so scared,” he said quietly, and I started to cry a little. 

“What the hell is she doing in an interview room, like a suspect? She hasn't commited any crime!” John said angrily. 

I saw the police man and woman glance at each other. 

Uncle Sam came over and hugged me while Dean was holding me. “I'm so glad you're safe, Charlie.” he said with relief.

John came over to us and acted like he was going to hug me, but then he saw my face. He took my face in his hands and examined my cheek.

“Why hasn't anyone treated this?” He let go of me and turned to the men standing in the doorway now. “This needs steri-strips at least, if not stitches! Has she even been examined yet? For God's sake, what kind of shitshow are you people running around here?” John put his hands on his hips and glowered at everyone.

“Dad,” Sam said quietly. 

“And did anyone offer her any food or drink? This is a little girl who's just been through a trauma, and you've got her in a cement room sitting on a cold metal chair!” John snapped.

Everyone straightened up, staring at the floor and shuffling their feet like they were little kids in trouble.

The man in the suit said, “I'm sorry, sir. I told my colleague to put a call in to the doctor on call. I'll go check on that.”

“The, uh, family rooms were all being used. We had an incident earlier and there were several families here waiting to be interviewed. We had to bring her in here. I apologize.” Officer Novak said.

“Well, someone had better get on the ball here!” John growled with a frown. 

“Yes sir. Can I offer you anything to drink? Any of you? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? Soda? Water?”

“Could I have a hot chocolate?” I asked. 

“Of course. Anyone else?” 

John asked for coffee, and Uncle Sam and Dean said no. 

They left us standing in the room, and John paced a little bit, shaking his head with annoyance. 

Officer Lewis came back into the room. “We have one of the family interview rooms open, if you'll come with me.”

We followed him down the hall, into a room that was like the one I had been in when the police talked to me about my mother. There was a long sofa and some armchairs and a coffee table. On the table was a tray with steaming mugs, a couple bottles of water, and a plate of cookies. 

Dean put me down on the floor and we walked over to the sofa. Officer Lewis handed me one of the mugs after I sat down.

“Thank you.” I said. I looked at Dean. “Can I have a cookie?” 

“Yes,” Dean said, putting his hand on my back. 

“Go ahead,” Officer Lewis gestured to the tray. “Do any of you take milk or sugar?”

John picked up a mug and took a sip. “Not bad,” he said.

“Yeah, we actually have one of those fancy coffee machines in our break room, I used it to make these for you.” Officer Lewis smiled sheepishly. “I'll be right back.” He left the room and closed the door. 

“Sweetheart, what happened?” Dean asked me, sitting down next to me.

“I came out of the bathroom and you were gone.” Uncle Sam said.

“Someone knocked on the door and I thought it was John and Uncle Bobby,” I told them. “So I opened it. But it was her! She looked into the room and then she just grabbed me and pulled me to her car! She kept talking about wanting what was hers. She said she would make Daddy get money for her.” Tears filled my eyes as I remembered how scared I had been. 

“Well, no more opening hotel doors for you.” Dean said. 

“I'm sorry!” I looked up at him. “Am I in trouble? Uncle Sam told me that they were coming over--”

“No, you're not in trouble.” Dean soothed. “It's all right.”

I wrapped my hands around the mug and shivered a little bit.

“Are you cold?” Dean put his hand on my arm. “Your skin is freezing!” 

“My feet are cold.” I said. 

Dean unbuttoned his flannel shirt and helped me put it on.

John looked at his watch. “This is ridiculous,” he said. “It's been a couple hours since they called us, and now we're waiting in here even longer.” He walked over to the door and opened it, stepping out into the big room with all the desks. Officer Lewis came over to him and they spoke, and then Officer Lewis motioned to another man in a suit. The man came over and went into a room next to the room we were in, with big glass windows, and we could see John talking and gesturing. 

Officer Lewis came into the room and closed the door. “I'm sorry there's been so many delays today.” he said. “It's been really busy here. There's a doctor on the way.”  
“Good.” Dean said. 

Officer Lewis glanced out the window and then said, “I wouldn't want to be in there right now getting a dressing down from him. He military?”

Dean chuckled. “Yeah, Marines, how'd you guess?”

“He seems kinda intimidating.” Officer Lewis said.

“Yeah, he can be. Imagine growing up with that.” Uncle Sam chuckled too.

“Oh?” Officer Lewis looked at him and then Dean.

“Getting a John Winchester Verbal Beat Down is one thing. Getting a John Winchester Butt Roasting is a whole 'nother level!” Dean said.

“I can imagine.” Officer Lewis said. “He looks like he could kick some serious as- I mean butt.” He glanced at me.

“You have no idea. The man has a really hard right hand.” Uncle Sam said, shaking his head.

“I hear that. My old man was the same way, except he was Army.” Officer Lewis said.   
John and the other man came into the room. The man in the suit looked at Officer Lewis.  
“Is the doctor on the way?” he asked.

“Yes sir.” Officer Lewis replied. 

“Get this little girl some socks, would you? Her feet are cold.” 

“Yes sir.” Officer Lewis said again. “Be right back.” They both left the room. 

John came over and looked at me. “Sweetheart, you shouldn't call me John, I'm your grandfather.” he said kindly. 

“Okay.” I agreed. I saw Dean and Uncle Sam look at each other and grin.

“What?” John asked, looking back and forth at them.

“You've finally accepted it, old man.” Dean said with a smile. 

“Watch your mouth, boy.” John growled, but it wasn't angry sounding. “I'm not that old, yet.” 

Officer Lewis came into the room holding a pair of black socks. John took them from him and sat down on the sofa next to me, and put them on my feet. 

“Thanks... Grandpa John,” I said. He looked at me for a moment and then ruffled my hair.

Another man carrying a black bag came into the room.

“I'm Dr. Anthony,” he said. He shook hands with everyone and then sat down on the coffee table in front of me. 

“What happened here?” he asked, taking my head in his hands.

“Uh, we were in the car, and my aunt, uh, hit me.” I said, feeling a little embarrassed.

They were all watching me. “She hit me so hard I fell over and hit my head on the window.”

I heard Dean inhale sharply, and I looked at him. He looked angry, and he clenched his fists. Uncle Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder. 

The doctor felt around on my head until he found the bump. He asked me some more questions about if I felt dizzy, did I lose conciousness, did I hear ringing in my ears. He had me follow his finger with my eyes and then stand up and close my eyes and lift one foot off the floor and then the other. 

“You can sit down now,” he said. “Good news is, she doesn't have a concussion. Keep an eye on her, of course, if she starts complaining of headache or dizziness, take her to a doctor.” 

He started to look at the cut on my face. “You say this is from a ring?” he asked.

“Yeah, she said her ring does that.” I told him. 

I heard Dean mutter something under his breath.

“What do you think, stitches or steri-strips?” John leaned over, looking at my face.

“I think steri-strips for a couple of days should be fine. You a doctor?”

“Did some medic work in Vietnam,” John said. 

“Oh. Thank you for your service,” the doctor said. 

John nodded. 

The doctor cleaned the cut on my face with some cold sting-y stuff and then put little bandages on it. “You have butterflies on your face,” he told me with a smile. “These are also called butterfly bandages.” 

He looked up at Dean and Uncle Sam. “Keep it dry for a couple of days, have her rechecked in about 5. Call her doctor if there's any problems.” 

“All right, thank you.” Dean said. The doctor stood up and shook his hand, then he left. In a couple of minutes, Officer Lewis came back into the room.

“We're almost done here. I just need for you to sigh some paperwork,” he said to Dean. “If you'll come with me.” 

Dean started to leave the room, and I called, “Daddy!” feeling nervous.

Uncle Sam sat down next to me. “He'll be right back,” he said. I leaned on Uncle Sam's arm. 

In a few minutes, Dean was back, and he picked me up. “We can go now.” he said. We walked to the car. John got into the driver's seat and Dean got in the back with me. He put his arm around me once we were buckled in. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked me. 

“I'm hungry.” I said. 

“Well, it's after lunch time, no wonder.” Uncle Sam said. “You want to go out somewhere?”

“She's not exactly dressed for it.” Dean said.

“Oh. Right. Well, one of us can go out and get something once we get back to the room.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Charlie, I know you've talked and talked about it, but I'd like to know what happened.” Dean said. “When we get back, okay?”

“Okay,” I said. I started to feel sleepy, and by the time I could feel the car stopping, I was almost all the way asleep. I tried to open my eyes and talk, but I was too tired. The stress of the day had worn me out, and I couldn't stay awake any longer.

I dreamed that I was at home with my mom, that it was before she got sick. The apartment was bright and cozy and Mom was smiling and happy, and she smelled the way she used the smell like flowers because of the shampoo she used. She didn't smell like that any more after she lost her hair. There wasn't much to the dream, just us doing things together like making popcorn and watching a tv show curled up on the couch. But I felt safe and warm and loved.

I could hear familiar music playing. 

“This is actually a good show, Charlie's gotten me hooked on it.” Uncle Sam said, and he chuckled. I realized he was watching the cooking show again. 

I opened my eyes and sat up- I was in bed, in the hotel room, with MaryBear and the little brown bear from the police station tucked in next to me. I didn't want to even look at the brown bear, it made me think of Aunt Michelle and being in the police car and how scared I had been.

Dean walked towards me, smiling at me. “Hey, Charlie, how are you feeling?” he asked.

I picked up the bear and threw it out of my bed. “I don't want this!” I snapped. I looked up at him. “And I don't want you! I-- I want my mom!” And then I burst into tears.


	14. Chapter 14

Dean came over to me quickly and bent down to me. “Oh, Charlie-” he started to say, and I batted his hands away. 

“NO!” I screamed. “I don't want you!” I looked up at him through my tears. “If I hadn't met you, none of this would have happened! You wouldn't have rescued me and then I would-- I would be with her!” 

“Charlie, think about what you're saying.” Dean said reasonably. “I had nothing to do with what happened, it was just luck that Sam and I were there when we were-”

“I wish you hadn't been there AT ALL!” I yelled, balling up my fists and pounding the bed. “Then none of this would have happened and I wouldn't be here!” 

Dean looked stunned. “If we hadn't been there, you might have...are you saying what I think you're saying?”

Uncle Sam had come over to stand next to Dean at that point. “Charlie, calm down,” he said. 

I threw my pillow at him. “NO, I WON'T calm down!” I screamed. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I threw with other pillow at Dean, and then I grabbed the sheet and the blanket and tore them off of the bed, balling them up and throwing them too. 

“Charlotte Anne! STOP!” Uncle Sam said in a loud voice, louder than I had ever heard him use, and it startled me into silence because it was so big and deep. He sat down on the bed and reached for me, to hold me like he had held me the first day I had been here, when I had gotten mad and yelled at them.

I fought against his hold on me, and it caught him off guard. He held on to my wrist and I brought my arm up and bent my head, and I bit him. 

“Ow! Dammit!” he hissed. He flipped my body over and swatted my butt, hard, and I gasped at the sting. Tears came to my eyes. He turned me towards him and held me by my shoulders. 

“You will calm down and stop having a tantrum.” he said firmly, looking me in the eyes. “I know you're upset but you are out of control.” 

“I'll never see her again,” I said. “and today, I thought I would never see you or Dean ever again!” The tears spilled over as I looked up at Uncle Sam, and he let go of me and then pulled me into a hug. 

“Today was awful,” he said. “It was really scary for all of us and I'm sorry you had to go through that.” 

I felt the bed give as I started to cry, and then Dean was putting his arms around Uncle Sam and me. 

“Today was hell,” he said, and his voice shook. “But we're all in this together, Charlie, we're here for you, and you're not alone. You have family, and we love you. Remember that.” 

The three of us sat together for a few minutes, hugging and sniffling. I think both Uncle Sam and Dean were crying a little bit too, but I wasn't sure. 

There was a knock on the door and I jumped, because it startled me. 

Dean stood up, wiping his face off, and crossed the room to answer it. I tensed up as the door opened. 

It was just Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby, with a couple of bags. They came in and started to unload little white boxes full of Chinese food onto the table. Uncle Bobby took some bottles of beer out of another bag and put it them in the fridge. 

My stomach growled as I smelled the food, and Uncle Sam looked down at me and chuckled. “I heard that,” he said. “You must be starving.” 

I turned to him suddenly, hugging him tightly. “I'm sorry I bit you and yelled at you.” I whispered.

“I'm sorry I swatted you,” he said. “I needed to get your attention.” 

“It's okay. I was flipping out.” 

“You were,” he agreed, chuckling. “Let's get you some food.” He picked me up and carried me over to the table.

“Everything okay?” Grandpa John asked, looking at me.

“We had some upset, but it's all right.” Uncle Sam put me in a chair at the table. 

“What do you want, Charlie?” he fixed me a plate and put it in front of me. Dean walked over next to Uncle Sam and handed him a bottle of beer. 

I looked up at Dean and touched his arm. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.   
“I'm sorry, Daddy.” I said quietly. “I didn't mean what I said before.” He bent down and hugged me, and I hugged his neck. 

“Thank you for saying you're sorry,” he said, and he kissed my cheek. 

He straightened up and picked up one of the containers, grabbing a pair of chopsticks, and began eating out of it. 

“Leave some for the rest of us, ya idjit!” Uncle Bobby said. 

“No, I'm pretty sure this is mine.” Dean said. “I ordered the Kung Pao Beef.” 

“I wanted some!” Uncle Sam whined, making puppy dog eyes, and they laughed.

“Do we need a lesson in sharing, Dean?” Grandpa John asked, and they all laughed again. 

Dean looked at me. “Charlie, are you ready to talk about today?”

I looked back at him. “No.” I said. “I don't want to. I don't want to keep talking about everything!” 

Dean and Uncle Sam did their “looking at each other and silently talking” thing. 

“Let it go for now, Dean.” Grandpa John said easily. “You have the police report. Charlie will talk when she's ready.” 

“I'd like to ask her about it while it's still fresh in her mind,” Dean said. 

“I don't want to talk about it ANY MORE!” I snapped. “Leave me alone!” 

“All right,” Dean said. “Watch the attitude, Charlie.”

“I don't have a attitude, you just won't leave me alone!” 

Dean leaned down to me and looked at me. “Rein it in, little girl, or you're going to go in time out.” he said quietly. 

I stared at him for a moment, then I looked at my lap. “Sorry,”I muttered.

“That's your last warning,” Dean said. “Next time, there will be a consequence. You got it?”

I looked up at him. “Yes, Daddy.” I said. 

He straightened up. I felt embarrassed that he was scolding me in front of everyone, but then, I had been sassy. 

“I got a call from the Rangers at the Tall Pines site,” Uncle Bobby said. “They think they found some tracks.” 

“We should go take a look.” Uncle Sam said. 

“First thing tomorrow, we can go.” Grandpa John said. “How's that?”

“Dean? You want to handle this, or--” Uncle Sam looked at Dean.

“Uh, no, you go. I think it's better if I stay here.” Dean put his hand on the back of my chair. 

“Bath tonight, Charlie.” Dean said to me. 

“Okay.” I agreed. “Can I have another spring roll?” 

Uncle Sam picked up the container and handed it to me.

“Thanks.” I said. After I finished it, I got off my chair and put my trash in the trash can.  
“You ready, Charlie?” Dean asked me.

“Yeah.” I said. I got clean pajamas out and went into the bathroom. Dean adjusted the temperature of the water for me and then left. I stood in front of the mirror and started to take the braids out of my hair. I wasn't used to doing that, though, and my hair got all tangled. 

I opened the door and walked back into the room. “Uh, my hair got all tangled,” I said shyly.

“Oh geez,” Dean said, looking at it. 

“Come here, I'll fix it,” Grandpa John said. I walked over to him and he started to fiddle with my hair. 

“Dad, you know how to braid?” Dean asked.

“Sure, it's a valauble skill. It's similar to making rope and tying knots,” he said. “And when you're young, girls are impressed if you can braid their hair.” He tapped my shoulder. “Turn and I'll undo the other one.” 

I turned around as everyone chuckled at what he had said. “Why is that funny?” I asked.

“Uh, you'll understand when you're older.” Dean said. 

I frowned at him. “I hate when people say that to me!” 

“Charlie-” Dean said in a warning voice. 

“There, all done.” Grandpa John said.

“Remember, don't get your face wet because of the bandages,” Dean reminded me.

“Thanks.” I said to Grandpa John. “Okay, Daddy.” I said as I went back into the bathroom. I got underdressed and into the tub. I could hear them talking and laughing as I washed myself. I felt alone. I didn't want to be in this hotel room any more. I missed my bathroom with the shower curtain that had fish on it, and all my bath toys. I missed my bedroom with the lavender walls and my dollhouse. I missed waking up and knowing that my Mom was there. I missed her most of all. I bowed my head and watched the tears drip off my face and plink into the bath water. 

There was a knock on the door. “Charlie? You okay in there?” Dean called.

“Yeah,” I said, and my voice cracked. I laid back in the water and washed my hair quickly, then I got out and dried off. 

I gave Uncle Sam my brush when I came out of the bathroom, and he brushed my hair.   
“Sounds like it could be witches,” he was saying. 

“Could be,” Uncle Bobby said. “We'd have to go over there and look for hex bags and the like.” 

“Well, we could go take a look tomorrow,” Uncle Sam handed me the brush. 

I looked up at him. “Witches?” 

He glanced down at me. “Uh, yeah.”

“Ooh, can I meet one? I've always wanted to meet one and ask if the stuff in Harry Potter is true!” I said excitedly.

Dean looked at me sternly. “No, you may not,” he said seriously. “Witches are bad news. You stay away from all of that, you hear me?”

“Okayokay!” I snapped, walking back towards the bathroom. 

Dean followed me as I went into the bathroom and put my brush on the side of the sink. He stood in the doorway and looked down at me. “You're giving me an awful lot of attitude tonight, little girl,” he said. “What is going on?” 

I sighed angrily. “I don't know.” I said. 

He leaned down and looked at my face. “If you need to talk--”

“No! I don't need to talk, and I don't want to talk! I said, I'm tired of talking!” I yelled. 

He stood up, and his jaw twitched. He pointed. “Time out. Go sit on your bed.” 

I glared up at him. “NO!” I shouted. 

He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. “All right, you want to tell me no? The next step is I put you over my knee. You want to go there?” He reached for my wrist and I stepped away from him. “You do not tell me no when I tell you to do something, little girl. Especially when you're in trouble. That will only make it worse.” 

We stared at each other for a long moment. 

“You have time out, and then straight to bed,” he said firmly. 

“Noooo,” I whined.

He sighed angrily. “What did I just say to you?” He reached for me again and I tried to pull away.

“No! Get offa me!” 

He took my arm and turned me, and then landed three sharp swats to my bottom. They echoed loudly in the bathroom and I burst into tears. 

Dean looked down at me. “Go sit in time out unless you want more,” he said, and he opened the door. He pointed. “Go.” he said. 

I ran out of the bathroom and over to my bed, where I threw myself down on the covers and sobbed. I was embarrassed because I knew that everyone had heard me yelling and Dean swatting me. I just wanted to be left alone. I didn't want to talk to anyone any more.

“Don't you think you should be cutting her a little slack?” I heard Grandpa John say. “She's had a rough couple of days.” 

“No, she's had slack, she needs rules and consequences,” Dean said. “I'm not going to let her start getting all mouthy again.” 

“Well, this could be her way of dealing with what she went through.” Grandpa John said. “Just keep that in mind.” 

“No, it's not.” Dean said. 

“You don't know that. Every kid is dfferent. When your mother passed, you shut down and stopped talking for a while.” John told him.

“I did?”

“Yes, no one could get a word out of you for months. Preschool wouldn't take you back because of it. You started talking again when Sammy started to talk, at around a year old. Then you took it upon yourself to teach him how to talk.” 

“I never knew that.” Dean said quietly.

“Well, it's not something I like to revisit that often. All I'm saying is, keep in mind everything that Charlie's been through. It was frustrating as hell with you sometimes, when you wouldn't talk, but I knew I couldn't get mad at you for it. You understand?”

“Yeah, Dad, I do. Thanks.” 

I heard footsteps and then someone touched my back. I turned my head as Dean sat down next to me. “Hey,” he said quietly. “I'm sorry.” 

“I'm bad,” I sobbed.

“No you're not, you're a normal little kid who's been through an awful lot recently. Come here.” 

I sat up and got onto his lap, and he hugged me to him. 

“I'll stop bugging you about talking if you'll promise me that you will talk to me when you're upset or feeling bad. Okay?”

I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. I buried my face in his flannel and sobbed. Eventually I fell asleep in his arms. 

 

  
I didn't dream about the campsite or the wolf creature this time. I dreamed that Aunt Michelle came to the apartment, and she said she was a witch, and that she could cure Mommy. So she did a spell, and there was lots of sparkly smoke in the air, but then when it went away, Mommy was all old and wrinkled and bald, and she fell over like she was dead. Aunt Michelle went over to her and said, “I'll reverse the spell if you give me the money.” She looked at me. “I'll bring her back if you give me all the money. I can do that you know.” 

 

I woke up suddenly, and the room was dark. I could hear Dean and Uncle Sam breathing in their beds. I had an odd feeling in my chest. Maybe a witch could bring my mommy back. They had all kinds of spells to do different things, like make someone fall in love, or make someone lose their voice. I had no idea how I could find out about it though. If I got on Uncle Sam's laptop and looked stuff up, he would find out, and then I'd be in trouble with him and Dean again, and I never wanted to have a double butt warming from them ever again. Maybe if we went to a library I could see if there were any books on witchcraft or spells there. I'd have to convince Dean and Uncle Sam to let me go off and look at books by myself, though. As I laid there in the dark, I fell back to sleep as I thought about what else I could do. 

 

“Charlie, wake up.” Dean said quietly to me. “It's time to get moving.” He rubbed my back and I opened my eyes and rolled over. 

“Whyyyy?” I groaned. 

“Sam and I have to go investigate this house to look for hex bags and stuff, and talk to a couple people.” 

I sat up. “You mean the witches you were talking about yesterday?” 

“Yes.” he said.

“Can I go too?”

Dean looked uncomfortable. “Well, you are going with us, but you're not going to be involved in anything.”

I got up and got dressed quickly. Both of them were already dressed.

Dean opened the door and I followed him out. The trunk of the car was open and Uncle Sam was back there. I followed Dean as he walked over to Uncle Sam. 

“We're out of wolfsbane and pennyroyal,” Uncle Sam said.

“Well, I have no idea where to get refills in this podunk town,” Dean said.

“I'll look it up online, there's a surprisingly large presence of online pagans and their supply shops and whatnot.” Uncle Sam said. 

I was staring into the trunk. It was full of all kinds of weapons in compartments, guns, knives, large syringes, bags of what looked like herbs, old looking books, and wooden boxes. 

“What's wolfsbane?” I asked. 

They both looked down at me. 

“Nothing you need to be concerned about,” Dean said. He snapped his fingers at me so that I looked at him. “I know stuff in there looks interesting, but you stay out of the trunk. There's all kinds of things in there that can hurt you, and you don't know the first thing about weapons. You hear me?”

“Yes, Daddy.” I said. 

“Listen, on that topic, you never touch a weapon, understand? Not unles you've been trained and you know how to handle it. I catch you messing with anything and you'll be in seriosus, and I mean serious trouble, got it?” 

We walked over to the doors and Dean opened the back door for me. 

“Yes, Daddy.” I said again as I got in the car. 

As we drove I couldn't stop thinking about the trunk. Maybe some of the books in the trunk were spellbooks. Maybe they had herbs and things in the trunk to do spells with. 

Dean dropped Uncle Sam off at a house, and then drove to a local park. He was meeting someone to interview her about the witches. 

“Go ahead and play,” he said to me, sitting on a bench. “I'll be right here.” 

The playground was huge, with a lot of big climbing structures. There were a lot of kids there too, and I got involved with some of them, playing a game where we were pretending to look for buried treasure. I glanced over at the bench where Dean was sitting at one point and he was talking to a woman with short brown hair. 

All of a sudden there was barking, and a big dog came bounding across the playground. Then there was yapping, and a small dog came running from the other direction. 

“Harley! To me!” a man called. The dogs began to growl and bark at each other, and I felt panic rising up in my chest. I knew that they were dogs, but the sounds reminded me of that night-- 

Arms were wrapping around me and picking me up. “Shh, it's all right,” Dean soothed as he lifted me onto his hip. I looked around. There was a crowd of kids standing in a circle, all staring at me. Dean took a bandana out of his pocked as he walked and wiped my face off. 

“What—what happened?” My throat felt raw. 

Dean looked down at me. “You- don't remember?”

I looked over his shoulder at the playground. The dogs were now running in circles around each other with their tails wagging. 

“You must have gotten scared by the dogs, and you were just standing there screaming.” Dean told me. 

“Oh,” I said, feeling embarrassed. 

“It's all right,” he said, putting his hand on the back of my head. “I was just about to come over and get you any way, Sam called me. We've got to go over to the house.”   
Dean put me down next to the car, and opened the door for me. 

Dean drove back to the nieghborhood where he had dropped Uncle Sam off, and parked across the street. He turned around to face me. “I'm just going to be a couple of minutes,” he said. “You stay here, and make sure the doors stay locked. Got it?”

“Yes, Daddy.” I said.

“Think about where you want to go for lunch,” he told me, then he got out of the car.

I watched him walk across the street and go into a yellow house. I still felt shaky, and scared. I didn't want to be alone in the car. I didn't want to be outside, I just wanted to go back to the hotel room. I started to breathe hard, and quick. I got more scared, and I started to worry. What if something had happened to Dean and Uncle Sam? What if there was a witch hiding in the house, and she killed them? 

I looked out the window and saw a lady walking a dog. As she came closer to the car, a cat wandered across the sidewalk in the next yard over from where we were parked. The dog growled and ran at the cat, dragging its owner as she yelled and scolded it. The cat ran across the street like a shot and the dog tried to follow it. The dog's growling made me feel worse, and I started to cry. I took a deep breath and made a decision. I had to go find my Dad and Uncle and save them. I opened the door and got out of the car, running across the street to the house. 

As I went up the front steps, the door opened and Uncle Sam stood there. 

“Charlie? What are you doing?” he asked. Dean came behind him and they stepped out onto the porch.

“Dammit, Charlie, what the hell are you doing out of the car?” Dean snapped, and he took my arm and swatted my butt. “I told you to stay put!” 

“ Ow! I-- I got scared, I was still upset from before and a lady walked her dog by the car and it went after a cat, and I started to worry that something had happened to you--” my breathing was starting to come in shorter breaths now.

“Hey, whoa,” Uncle Sam bent and picked me up. “Calm down, breathe slower.”

They started to walk to the car. “What's this about a dog?” Uncle Sam looked at Dean. 

Dean opened the back door for me and Uncle Sam put me on the ground. 

“Youre in trouble, little girl.” Dean said to me. 

I got in the back seat and tried not to cry, but I started to cry harder.

They got in the front seat and Dean started the car. “We were at the park and I was talking to Ms. Johnson, and Charlie started screaming, there were two dogs at the park, a big one got off its leash and ran up to another one, and they were barking and growling at each other. Charlie was just standing there screaming, so I grabbed her up and we left, and came here.” 

“I-- I was still feeling scared!” I protested. “I didn't want you to leave me!” 

“Yeah, but I told you I was only gonna be gone for a couple of minutes!” Dean said to me over his shoulder. 

“I didn't know that! It seemed like a long time!” I shouted at him, my tears drying up. 

“Hey!” he turned to glare at me. “Watch it, little girl!”

“So she just got upset a few minutes before and you left her in the car?” Uncle Sam asked. “Without checking to see if she was okay?” 

“Sam, you called me, I wanted to see what you had found.” Dean said. 

“But Dean, after all Charlie's been through the past couple of days, don't you think you should have taken a minute to calm her down?”

“I did. She was calm.” Dean said. “She didn't say anything about still being upset!” 

“I think we both know that Charlie is not going to talk about how she's feeling, after all she is her father's daughter in that respect. We found that out last night.” Uncle Sam said. “You should have asked her.” 

“Yeah, and like she would tell me?” Dean's voice was raised. “God, Sam, get off my ass!” 

“Well, I happen to think you messed up here.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Well, great. What the hell am I supposed to do when we're on a case?” Dean rubbed his hand over his face.

“I don't know, Dean.” Uncle Sam said. “We're still figuring this out.”

“One thing I do know is that someone needs to remember to follow directions,” Dean looked back at me. “When I tell you to stay in the car, you stay in the car!” 

“Okayokay!” I snapped.

He turned to face me. “Excuse me? You just bought yourself an early bedtime.”

“Nooo!” I whined. 

“You better watch your tone from now on,” Dean said in a warning voice. 

I huffed at him and crossed my arms. 

“Get rid of the attitude,” he growled. 

Uncle Sam chuckled, “You sound just like Dad.” 

“Yeah, and I'm about to beat some ass, just like he used to, yours included, little brother.” 

“What did I do?” 

Dean sighed and rubbed his face again. “Where are we going for lunch?” 

“I'm not hungry.” I said. 

Both of them turned to look at me. “You sure?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yeah.” I said. 

Dean found a diner, and we went in and got a table. The waitress put a paper place mat and some crayons down for me. 

“Charlie, I want you to eat something.” Dean said to me. 

“I'm not hungry,” I repeated. 

“You still need to eat.” 

“How can I eat when I'm not hungry?” I snapped. 

He leaned toward me. “What did I say about attitude?” he said in a hard, quiet voice. 

“But Daddy-”

He sat up. “I don't want to hear any excuses, Charlie.” 

“You're mean!” I folded my arms and glared at him. 

The waitress came to the table just then, and Dean ordered me a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries. 

“I'm not eating it.” I said stubbornly, when she walked away. 

“We can take it with us and heat it up in the room.” Uncle Sam said. “Both of you need to take a break, I'm getting a headache from all the glaring and huffing going on here.” 

I stared at my place mat and did the maze and the word search that was on it, and listened to them talking. In a few minutes, our food arrived at the table. They started to eat right away. 

I looked up after a moment, to find Dean watching me. 

“Start eating,” he said. 

“Not hungry,” I retorted, looking down at the table again. 

Uncle Sam's phone rang and he talked for a couple of minutes. After he hung up, he said, “That was Dad, they're on their way back. They found the tracks but they think it was a coyote.”

Dean sighed. “How in the hell is this creature so hard to find?” 

“We probably need to be out there 24-7 for a couple days,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Charlie, come on, eat at least half of your sandwich.” Dean said to me. I ignored him. 

“Charlie” he said again. “Look at me.” 

I sighed and looked at him. 

“If you don't eat it here, we'll take it to the hotel and you can eat it there. But you are gonna eat it.” 

“I didn't want it!” I snapped. “You're being mean! I told you I wasn't hungry and you didn't listen and ordered me something anyway and now you want me to eat it! Well you can't make me!” 

Dean pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. 

“She's got a point, Dean,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Shut up, Sam!” Dean snapped. 

Uncle Sam sighed and picked up his fork, shaking his head.

“We're still going to take it back to the hotel with us.” Dean said, giving me a look.

I don't know what came over me, but my annoyance turned to anger at that moment, and I reached out and swept my arm across the table. My plate flipped in the air as it fell and landed on the floor with a clatter, scattering french fries all over the linoleum. The paper place mat drifted down slowly and landed on top of the plate.

“Now I can't eat it at all.” I said, looking over at them defiantly.

Both Dean and Uncle Sam were staring at me with their mouths open, the same identical stunned looks on theire faces. 

“Okay Sam, you take care of the bill,” Dean said, sliding his chair back. “My hand has an appointment with Charlie's butt in the back seat right now.” 

Uncle Sam put his hand on Dean's arm. “Stop.” he said. “You're pissed off--”

“Damn right I'm pissed! My daughter's being a class- A brat!” 

“Just hold on. Take a couple of minutes and calm down. You remember, Dad always did that too? Counting to 10? Or 20? Or even 30 sometimes? Don't do anything while you're angry.”

Dean sighed heavily. “All right. You're right.” 

He looked at me. “We're still going out to the car, and you're in time out in the back until I'm calm enough to deal with you. Come on.” 

I pushed my chair back as the waitress came over. “Oh, what happened here? Do we need another plate of food?” 

Dean stepped over the mess and took my arm. “Let's go,” he said curtly. 

I got in the back seat and folded my arms. 

“Time out starts now,” Dean told me, looking at his watch. 

“Don't care,” I said, looking out the window. I was tired of him telling me what to do, and expecting me to do it. I was tired of someone always being around. I wanted to go do what I wanted to do, watch t.v. when I wanted, play by myself when I wanted, and not have to do what I was told. It wans't fair that this was my life now!

In a few minutes, Uncle Sam came to the car. He got into the passenger side with a styrofoam box. “I packed up the rest of your plate,” he said to Dean. 

“Thanks,” Dean said, and turned the car on. 

“She still in time out?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yep,” Dean answered tersely.

As soon as the car pulled into the parking space, I opened the back door and ran. I didn't get that far before hands were grabbing me, and of course Uncle Sam and his long legs had caught up with me almost right away. 

“What is going on with you today, young lady?” he grunted as he tried to pick me up.   
I was fighting and trying to pull away from him. He finally leaned down and threw me over his shoulder, holding my legs against his chest so I couldn't kick him. I pounded my fists on his back as he walked back to the room. It felt just like Dean, hitting a brick wall. Why did they both have to be so big and strong?

He walked into the room and leaned down, setting me down on the floor, but he took my arm and held me there as he sat down on the end of the bed. 

“This stops now,” he said. 

I pulled my arm. “Let me go!” 

“No,” he said simply.

I yanked my arm again, and when he didn't let go, I started to bring it up to my mouth again to bite him.

“No!” Uncle Sam shouted. “Charlotte Anne, you need to stop all this!” 

He pulled me towards him and turned me, holding on to me like he had that first day I was with them. 

“Lemme gooooo!” I whined.

“What's going on?” he asked, as I continued to struggle. “Why are you acting like this?” 

“I'm tired of always having to do what everyone tells me to do!” I snapped. “I want to do what I want!”

“News flash, you don't get to, because you're a kid,” Dean told me. 

“That's not true! I got to do what I wanted before!”

“Only because your mother was too sick to be a proper parent to you! And, it sounds like she let you get away with an awful lot.” 

“She did not!” I yelled, struggling with Uncle Sam some more. “You're mean! Uncle Sam is mean! All you want to do it tell me what to do all the time! I hate it! I hate it here! I wish I'd never met you!” 

Dean's eyes went wide for a second, and his face got red. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they looked funny. He looked down at the floor. 

“I-- I've gotta-- I'm out of here,” he said in a low voice, and he turned and left the room.

Uncle Sam turned me around to face him and took my upper arms in his hands.

“Charlotte Anne Winchester, what the hell is going on? How can you say something like that to your father!” His voice was loud and stern. I looked at him and his face was angry. His olive green eyes were very dark, and a muscle twitched in his cheek. I dropped my eyes to the floor, unable to look at him any more. “Young lady, you are in serious trouble! Your behavior today is out of control, and this is the last straw! You are getting a spanking.”

“Nooo,” I whined, pulling away from him. 

“Yes,” he said firmly.

“But-- but I was upset before because of the dogs, you said that Dean was in the wrong!” I whined.

“That's true. However, you also got out of the car when we were at a scene, after you had been told to stay there, and you were about to come inside! Then you threw major attitude in the car and the diner, and you pulled that stunt with the plate, dumping it on the floor so that you wouldn't have to eat it, which was a waste of good food and you gave the waitress extra work to do. Then, when we get back here, the first thing you do it take off running, which is a rule broken. And then you try and bite me again, after you already bit me once this morning! And last but not least, you mouth off to Dean and say something really hurtful to him. So yeah, you deserve a spanking, and you're gonna get one.” 

“But Uncle Saaaamm...” I whined. 

“NO.” he said decisively. He picked me up and then all of a sudden I was face down over his lap. I started to struggle and kick. Uncle Sam moved his leg so that mine were pinned under his, and I couldn't move that much. I was tilted forward a little bit, and I wrapped my arms around his calf and held on. I was starting to regret how I had been acting all day. I realized Uncle Sam's big hand was going to be spanking my butt, and it was going to hurt, and then the first swat landed. I yelped loudly and tears came to my eyes.

This time he talked as he spanked. “Now you listen to me, young lady,” he said sternly. “I know you've had a rough time, and we've been trying to give you a break, but your behavior today is inexcusable. You can be upset without throwing tantrums and sassing and being rude. This is going to stop, and I mean now. And you need to seriously think about what you say to people and whether or not what you're going to say is hurtful. Do you understand me?” 

Several hard swats had fallen by the end of his speech, and my bottom was stinging.   
“I said, do you understand me?” He repeated in a hard voice. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes! Yes, Uncle Sam, I'm sorry!” I wailed, the tears in my eyes spilling over.

“I'm not going to let this behavior go any more,” he said. “If you can't get control over yourself, then we'll have to get strict with you and really come down on you at the first sign of misbehavior. Is that what you want? You want to be in trouble over every little thing?”

“No, Uncle Sam!” I whimpered. 

“You need to seriously think about how you've been acting. And it needs to change.” 

“Okay...okay Uncle Sam...please...” tears were starting to drip off my face onto the floor.

I whimpered as his hand began to fall again, harder than before, and before long I was sobbing. After several more swats he stopped, and he stood me up in front of him. I expected him to hug me, but he didn't. He stood up and led me across the room, and turned me towards the wall.

“Wh-what are you d-doing?” I sobbed.

“You're going to stand in the corner and think about all your behavior today,” he said firmly. 

“B- but I've n-never--” I glanced up at him.

“You will stay here and think about everything until I call you out,” he said. “Is that clear?”

“Y-yes, Uncle Sam,” I sobbed. 

I heard him walk away. I looked at the walls through my tears. There was nothing to look at, nothing to concentrate on except my thoughts. So I thought about what he said. I had been horrible today, I didn't know what had come over me in the diner, I just got so mad at being told what to do. They were making rules and telling me what to do to keep me safe, and I wasn't listening or obeying them. I hadn't meant what I said to Dean either. I realized that I loved him and Uncle Sam, that they were taking care of me, and they didn't have to. Dean could have said that he didn't want a kid, I had classmates who knew who their dads were but the dads never did anything with them or took care of them. 

Tears were pouring down my face at this point. 

“Charlotte Anne,” Uncle Sam said. “Are you done thinking about things? Are you ready to change how you've been acting?” 

“Y-yes, Uncle S-sam,” I sobbed out. 

“Then come here.” 

I turned and trudged back over to him. He was sitting on the end of the bed again. I went up to him and he took me in his arms and pulled me into his lap. 

“I'm suh-sorry!” I wailed as he held me. “I'm suh-sorry I'm so b-bad!” 

“Shh, you're not bad, you misbehave and get out of control sometimes. And it's my job, and your Dad's job, to get you back in line. You're a good girl, Charlie, you're just learning how to live differently that you've been living, and it's hard sometimes.” 

The door opened, and I turned my head to see Dean come in the room. 

He closed the door and stood there looking at us. 

“Daddy-” I said, and I slid off of Uncle Sam's lap and ran to him, because he was my Daddy.

He bent down and picked me up in a tight hug, and I said, “I'm sorry I said that, I'm sorry I was mean, I didn't mean it--”

“Shh,” Daddy said, rubbing the back of my head. 

“No, I am sorry!” I said again. “I won't ever say that again!” 

“All right. It's all right,” he said. 

“I'm sorry I was bad today and I sassed you and didn't listen--”

“Charlie. Shh. You're okay.” 

Daddy walked over to the bed and sat down next to Uncle Sam. He set me on his lap. “This was just a bump in the road today. We're still figuring things out.” 

“We'll get it.” Uncle Sam said, rubbing my back. 

I held tight to Daddy until I had calmed down and stopped crying. At that point I felt very sleepy. 

“You awake?” I heard Daddy ask.

“Mmm,” I mumbled. I felt him lift me, and he walked a short distance. I tightened my arms around him. “Stay,” I murmured. I opened my eyes for a moment, and he was setting us on his bed. He propped himself up at the headboard and held me on his chest. I felt him rubbing my back and I drifted into sleep.

 

Dean came over to me quickly and bent down to me. “Oh, Charlie-” he started to say, and I batted his hands away. 

“NO!” I screamed. “I don't want you!” I looked up at him through my tears. “If I hadn't met you, none of this would have happened! You wouldn't have rescued me and then I would-- I would be with her!” 

“Charlie, think about what you're saying.” Dean said reasonably. “I had nothing to do with what happened, it was just luck that Sam and I were there when we were-”

“I wish you hadn't been there AT ALL!” I yelled, balling up my fists and pounding the bed. “Then none of this would have happened and I wouldn't be here!” 

Dean looked stunned. “If we hadn't been there, you might have...are you saying what I think you're saying?”

Uncle Sam had come over to stand next to Dean at that point. “Charlie, calm down,” he said. 

I threw my pillow at him. “NO, I WON'T calm down!” I screamed. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I threw with other pillow at Dean, and then I grabbed the sheet and the blanket and tore them off of the bed, balling them up and throwing them too. 

“Charlotte Anne! STOP!” Uncle Sam said in a loud voice, louder than I had ever heard him use, and it startled me into silence because it was so big and deep. He sat down on the bed and reached for me, to hold me like he had held me the first day I had been here, when I had gotten mad and yelled at them.

I fought against his hold on me, and it caught him off guard. He held on to my wrist and I brought my arm up and bent my head, and I bit him. 

“Ow! Dammit!” he hissed. He flipped my body over and swatted my butt, hard, and I gasped at the sting. Tears came to my eyes. He turned me towards him and held me by my shoulders. 

“You will calm down and stop having a tantrum.” he said firmly, looking me in the eyes. “I know you're upset but you are out of control.” 

“I'll never see her again,” I said. “and today, I thought I would never see you or Dean ever again!” The tears spilled over as I looked up at Uncle Sam, and he let go of me and then pulled me into a hug. 

“Today was awful,” he said. “It was really scary for all of us and I'm sorry you had to go through that.” 

I felt the bed give as I started to cry, and then Dean was putting his arms around Uncle Sam and me. 

“Today was hell,” he said, and his voice shook. “But we're all in this together, Charlie, we're here for you, and you're not alone. You have family, and we love you. Remember that.” 

The three of us sat together for a few minutes, hugging and sniffling. I think both Uncle Sam and Dean were crying a little bit too, but I wasn't sure. 

There was a knock on the door and I jumped, because it startled me. 

Dean stood up, wiping his face off, and crossed the room to answer it. I tensed up as the door opened. 

It was just Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby, with a couple of bags. They came in and started to unload little white boxes full of Chinese food onto the table. Uncle Bobby took some bottles of beer out of another bag and put it them in the fridge. 

My stomach growled as I smelled the food, and Uncle Sam looked down at me and chuckled. “I heard that,” he said. “You must be starving.” 

I turned to him suddenly, hugging him tightly. “I'm sorry I bit you and yelled at you.” I whispered.

“I'm sorry I swatted you,” he said. “I needed to get your attention.” 

“It's okay. I was flipping out.” 

“You were,” he agreed, chuckling. “Let's get you some food.” He picked me up and carried me over to the table.

“Everything okay?” Grandpa John asked, looking at me.

“We had some upset, but it's all right.” Uncle Sam put me in a chair at the table. 

“What do you want, Charlie?” he fixed me a plate and put it in front of me. Dean walked over next to Uncle Sam and handed him a bottle of beer. 

I looked up at Dean and touched his arm. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.   
“I'm sorry, Daddy.” I said quietly. “I didn't mean what I said before.” He bent down and hugged me, and I hugged his neck. 

“Thank you for saying you're sorry,” he said, and he kissed my cheek. 

He straightened up and picked up one of the containers, grabbing a pair of chopsticks, and began eating out of it. 

“Leave some for the rest of us, ya idjit!” Uncle Bobby said. 

“No, I'm pretty sure this is mine.” Dean said. “I ordered the Kung Pao Beef.” 

“I wanted some!” Uncle Sam whined, making puppy dog eyes, and they laughed.

“Do we need a lesson in sharing, Dean?” Grandpa John asked, and they all laughed again. 

Dean looked at me. “Charlie, are you ready to talk about today?”

I looked back at him. “No.” I said. “I don't want to. I don't want to keep talking about everything!” 

Dean and Uncle Sam did their “looking at each other and silently talking” thing. 

“Let it go for now, Dean.” Grandpa John said easily. “You have the police report. Charlie will talk when she's ready.” 

“I'd like to ask her about it while it's still fresh in her mind,” Dean said. 

“I don't want to talk about it ANY MORE!” I snapped. “Leave me alone!” 

“All right,” Dean said. “Watch the attitude, Charlie.”

“I don't have a attitude, you just won't leave me alone!” 

Dean leaned down to me and looked at me. “Rein it in, little girl, or you're going to go in time out.” he said quietly. 

I stared at him for a moment, then I looked at my lap. “Sorry,”I muttered.

“That's your last warning,” Dean said. “Next time, there will be a consequence. You got it?”

I looked up at him. “Yes, Daddy.” I said. 

He straightened up. I felt embarrassed that he was scolding me in front of everyone, but then, I had been sassy. 

“I got a call from the Rangers at the Tall Pines site,” Uncle Bobby said. “They think they found some tracks.” 

“We should go take a look.” Uncle Sam said. 

“First thing tomorrow, we can go.” Grandpa John said. “How's that?”

“Dean? You want to handle this, or--” Uncle Sam looked at Dean.

“Uh, no, you go. I think it's better if I stay here.” Dean put his hand on the back of my chair. 

“Bath tonight, Charlie.” Dean said to me. 

“Okay.” I agreed. “Can I have another spring roll?” 

Uncle Sam picked up the container and handed it to me.

“Thanks.” I said. After I finished it, I got off my chair and put my trash in the trash can.  
“You ready, Charlie?” Dean asked me.

“Yeah.” I said. I got clean pajamas out and went into the bathroom. Dean adjusted the temperature of the water for me and then left. I stood in front of the mirror and started to take the braids out of my hair. I wasn't used to doing that, though, and my hair got all tangled. 

I opened the door and walked back into the room. “Uh, my hair got all tangled,” I said shyly.

“Oh geez,” Dean said, looking at it. 

“Come here, I'll fix it,” Grandpa John said. I walked over to him and he started to fiddle with my hair. 

“Dad, you know how to braid?” Dean asked.

“Sure, it's a valauble skill. It's similar to making rope and tying knots,” he said. “And when you're young, girls are impressed if you can braid their hair.” He tapped my shoulder. “Turn and I'll undo the other one.” 

I turned around as everyone chuckled at what he had said. “Why is that funny?” I asked.

“Uh, you'll understand when you're older.” Dean said. 

I frowned at him. “I hate when people say that to me!” 

“Charlie-” Dean said in a warning voice. 

“There, all done.” Grandpa John said.

“Remember, don't get your face wet because of the bandages,” Dean reminded me.

“Thanks.” I said to Grandpa John. “Okay, Daddy.” I said as I went back into the bathroom. I got underdressed and into the tub. I could hear them talking and laughing as I washed myself. I felt alone. I didn't want to be in this hotel room any more. I missed my bathroom with the shower curtain that had fish on it, and all my bath toys. I missed my bedroom with the lavender walls and my dollhouse. I missed waking up and knowing that my Mom was there. I missed her most of all. I bowed my head and watched the tears drip off my face and plink into the bath water. 

There was a knock on the door. “Charlie? You okay in there?” Dean called.

“Yeah,” I said, and my voice cracked. I laid back in the water and washed my hair quickly, then I got out and dried off. 

I gave Uncle Sam my brush when I came out of the bathroom, and he brushed my hair.   
“Sounds like it could be witches,” he was saying. 

“Could be,” Uncle Bobby said. “We'd have to go over there and look for hex bags and the like.” 

“Well, we could go take a look tomorrow,” Uncle Sam handed me the brush. 

I looked up at him. “Witches?” 

He glanced down at me. “Uh, yeah.”

“Ooh, can I meet one? I've always wanted to meet one and ask if the stuff in Harry Potter is true!” I said excitedly.

Dean looked at me sternly. “No, you may not,” he said seriously. “Witches are bad news. You stay away from all of that, you hear me?”

“Okayokay!” I snapped, walking back towards the bathroom. 

Dean followed me as I went into the bathroom and put my brush on the side of the sink. He stood in the doorway and looked down at me. “You're giving me an awful lot of attitude tonight, little girl,” he said. “What is going on?” 

I sighed angrily. “I don't know.” I said. 

He leaned down and looked at my face. “If you need to talk--”

“No! I don't need to talk, and I don't want to talk! I said, I'm tired of talking!” I yelled. 

He stood up, and his jaw twitched. He pointed. “Time out. Go sit on your bed.” 

I glared up at him. “NO!” I shouted. 

He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door. “All right, you want to tell me no? The next step is I put you over my knee. You want to go there?” He reached for my wrist and I stepped away from him. “You do not tell me no when I tell you to do something, little girl. Especially when you're in trouble. That will only make it worse.” 

We stared at each other for a long moment. 

“You have time out, and then straight to bed,” he said firmly. 

“Noooo,” I whined.

He sighed angrily. “What did I just say to you?” He reached for me again and I tried to pull away.

“No! Get offa me!” 

He took my arm and turned me, and then landed three sharp swats to my bottom. They echoed loudly in the bathroom and I burst into tears. 

Dean looked down at me. “Go sit in time out unless you want more,” he said, and he opened the door. He pointed. “Go.” he said. 

I ran out of the bathroom and over to my bed, where I threw myself down on the covers and sobbed. I was embarrassed because I knew that everyone had heard me yelling and Dean swatting me. I just wanted to be left alone. I didn't want to talk to anyone any more.

“Don't you think you should be cutting her a little slack?” I heard Grandpa John say. “She's had a rough couple of days.” 

“No, she's had slack, she needs rules and consequences,” Dean said. “I'm not going to let her start getting all mouthy again.” 

“Well, this could be her way of dealing with what she went through.” Grandpa John said. “Just keep that in mind.” 

“No, it's not.” Dean said. 

“You don't know that. Every kid is dfferent. When your mother passed, you shut down and stopped talking for a while.” John told him.

“I did?”

“Yes, no one could get a word out of you for months. Preschool wouldn't take you back because of it. You started talking again when Sammy started to talk, at around a year old. Then you took it upon yourself to teach him how to talk.” 

“I never knew that.” Dean said quietly.

“Well, it's not something I like to revisit that often. All I'm saying is, keep in mind everything that Charlie's been through. It was frustrating as hell with you sometimes, when you wouldn't talk, but I knew I couldn't get mad at you for it. You understand?”

“Yeah, Dad, I do. Thanks.” 

I heard footsteps and then someone touched my back. I turned my head as Dean sat down next to me. “Hey,” he said quietly. “I'm sorry.” 

“I'm bad,” I sobbed.

“No you're not, you're a normal little kid who's been through an awful lot recently. Come here.” 

I sat up and got onto his lap, and he hugged me to him. 

“I'll stop bugging you about talking if you'll promise me that you will talk to me when you're upset or feeling bad. Okay?”

I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. I buried my face in his flannel and sobbed. Eventually I fell asleep in his arms. 

 

  
I didn't dream about the campsite or the wolf creature this time. I dreamed that Aunt Michelle came to the apartment, and she said she was a witch, and that she could cure Mommy. So she did a spell, and there was lots of sparkly smoke in the air, but then when it went away, Mommy was all old and wrinkled and bald, and she fell over like she was dead. Aunt Michelle went over to her and said, “I'll reverse the spell if you give me the money.” She looked at me. “I'll bring her back if you give me all the money. I can do that you know.” 

 

I woke up suddenly, and the room was dark. I could hear Dean and Uncle Sam breathing in their beds. I had an odd feeling in my chest. Maybe a witch could bring my mommy back. They had all kinds of spells to do different things, like make someone fall in love, or make someone lose their voice. I had no idea how I could find out about it though. If I got on Uncle Sam's laptop and looked stuff up, he would find out, and then I'd be in trouble with him and Dean again, and I never wanted to have a double butt warming from them ever again. Maybe if we went to a library I could see if there were any books on witchcraft or spells there. I'd have to convince Dean and Uncle Sam to let me go off and look at books by myself, though. As I laid there in the dark, I fell back to sleep as I thought about what else I could do. 

 

“Charlie, wake up.” Dean said quietly to me. “It's time to get moving.” He rubbed my back and I opened my eyes and rolled over. 

“Whyyyy?” I groaned. 

“Sam and I have to go investigate this house to look for hex bags and stuff, and talk to a couple people.” 

I sat up. “You mean the witches you were talking about yesterday?” 

“Yes.” he said.

“Can I go too?”

Dean looked uncomfortable. “Well, you are going with us, but you're not going to be involved in anything.”

I got up and got dressed quickly. Both of them were already dressed.

Dean opened the door and I followed him out. The trunk of the car was open and Uncle Sam was back there. I followed Dean as he walked over to Uncle Sam. 

“We're out of wolfsbane and pennyroyal,” Uncle Sam said.

“Well, I have no idea where to get refills in this podunk town,” Dean said.

“I'll look it up online, there's a surprisingly large presence of online pagans and their supply shops and whatnot.” Uncle Sam said. 

I was staring into the trunk. It was full of all kinds of weapons in compartments, guns, knives, large syringes, bags of what looked like herbs, old looking books, and wooden boxes. 

“What's wolfsbane?” I asked. 

They both looked down at me. 

“Nothing you need to be concerned about,” Dean said. He snapped his fingers at me so that I looked at him. “I know stuff in there looks interesting, but you stay out of the trunk. There's all kinds of things in there that can hurt you, and you don't know the first thing about weapons. You hear me?”

“Yes, Daddy.” I said. 

“Listen, on that topic, you never touch a weapon, understand? Not unles you've been trained and you know how to handle it. I catch you messing with anything and you'll be in seriosus, and I mean serious trouble, got it?” 

We walked over to the doors and Dean opened the back door for me. 

“Yes, Daddy.” I said again as I got in the car. 

As we drove I couldn't stop thinking about the trunk. Maybe some of the books in the trunk were spellbooks. Maybe they had herbs and things in the trunk to do spells with. 

Dean dropped Uncle Sam off at a house, and then drove to a local park. He was meeting someone to interview her about the witches. 

“Go ahead and play,” he said to me, sitting on a bench. “I'll be right here.” 

The playground was huge, with a lot of big climbing structures. There were a lot of kids there too, and I got involved with some of them, playing a game where we were pretending to look for buried treasure. I glanced over at the bench where Dean was sitting at one point and he was talking to a woman with short brown hair. 

All of a sudden there was barking, and a big dog came bounding across the playground. Then there was yapping, and a small dog came running from the other direction. 

“Harley! To me!” a man called. The dogs began to growl and bark at each other, and I felt panic rising up in my chest. I knew that they were dogs, but the sounds reminded me of that night-- 

Arms were wrapping around me and picking me up. “Shh, it's all right,” Dean soothed as he lifted me onto his hip. I looked around. There was a crowd of kids standing in a circle, all staring at me. Dean took a bandana out of his pocked as he walked and wiped my face off. 

“What—what happened?” My throat felt raw. 

Dean looked down at me. “You- don't remember?”

I looked over his shoulder at the playground. The dogs were now running in circles around each other with their tails wagging. 

“You must have gotten scared by the dogs, and you were just standing there screaming.” Dean told me. 

“Oh,” I said, feeling embarrassed. 

“It's all right,” he said, putting his hand on the back of my head. “I was just about to come over and get you any way, Sam called me. We've got to go over to the house.”   
Dean put me down next to the car, and opened the door for me. 

Dean drove back to the nieghborhood where he had dropped Uncle Sam off, and parked across the street. He turned around to face me. “I'm just going to be a couple of minutes,” he said. “You stay here, and make sure the doors stay locked. Got it?”

“Yes, Daddy.” I said.

“Think about where you want to go for lunch,” he told me, then he got out of the car.

I watched him walk across the street and go into a yellow house. I still felt shaky, and scared. I didn't want to be alone in the car. I didn't want to be outside, I just wanted to go back to the hotel room. I started to breathe hard, and quick. I got more scared, and I started to worry. What if something had happened to Dean and Uncle Sam? What if there was a witch hiding in the house, and she killed them? 

I looked out the window and saw a lady walking a dog. As she came closer to the car, a cat wandered across the sidewalk in the next yard over from where we were parked. The dog growled and ran at the cat, dragging its owner as she yelled and scolded it. The cat ran across the street like a shot and the dog tried to follow it. The dog's growling made me feel worse, and I started to cry. I took a deep breath and made a decision. I had to go find my Dad and Uncle and save them. I opened the door and got out of the car, running across the street to the house. 

As I went up the front steps, the door opened and Uncle Sam stood there. 

“Charlie? What are you doing?” he asked. Dean came behind him and they stepped out onto the porch.

“Dammit, Charlie, what the hell are you doing out of the car?” Dean snapped, and he took my arm and swatted my butt. “I told you to stay put!” 

“ Ow! I-- I got scared, I was still upset from before and a lady walked her dog by the car and it went after a cat, and I started to worry that something had happened to you--” my breathing was starting to come in shorter breaths now.

“Hey, whoa,” Uncle Sam bent and picked me up. “Calm down, breathe slower.”

They started to walk to the car. “What's this about a dog?” Uncle Sam looked at Dean. 

Dean opened the back door for me and Uncle Sam put me on the ground. 

“Youre in trouble, little girl.” Dean said to me. 

I got in the back seat and tried not to cry, but I started to cry harder.

They got in the front seat and Dean started the car. “We were at the park and I was talking to Ms. Johnson, and Charlie started screaming, there were two dogs at the park, a big one got off its leash and ran up to another one, and they were barking and growling at each other. Charlie was just standing there screaming, so I grabbed her up and we left, and came here.” 

“I-- I was still feeling scared!” I protested. “I didn't want you to leave me!” 

“Yeah, but I told you I was only gonna be gone for a couple of minutes!” Dean said to me over his shoulder. 

“I didn't know that! It seemed like a long time!” I shouted at him, my tears drying up. 

“Hey!” he turned to glare at me. “Watch it, little girl!”

“So she just got upset a few minutes before and you left her in the car?” Uncle Sam asked. “Without checking to see if she was okay?” 

“Sam, you called me, I wanted to see what you had found.” Dean said. 

“But Dean, after all Charlie's been through the past couple of days, don't you think you should have taken a minute to calm her down?”

“I did. She was calm.” Dean said. “She didn't say anything about still being upset!” 

“I think we both know that Charlie is not going to talk about how she's feeling, after all she is her father's daughter in that respect. We found that out last night.” Uncle Sam said. “You should have asked her.” 

“Yeah, and like she would tell me?” Dean's voice was raised. “God, Sam, get off my ass!” 

“Well, I happen to think you messed up here.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Well, great. What the hell am I supposed to do when we're on a case?” Dean rubbed his hand over his face.

“I don't know, Dean.” Uncle Sam said. “We're still figuring this out.”

“One thing I do know is that someone needs to remember to follow directions,” Dean looked back at me. “When I tell you to stay in the car, you stay in the car!” 

“Okayokay!” I snapped.

He turned to face me. “Excuse me? You just bought yourself an early bedtime.”

“Nooo!” I whined. 

“You better watch your tone from now on,” Dean said in a warning voice. 

I huffed at him and crossed my arms. 

“Get rid of the attitude,” he growled. 

Uncle Sam chuckled, “You sound just like Dad.” 

“Yeah, and I'm about to beat some ass, just like he used to, yours included, little brother.” 

“What did I do?” 

Dean sighed and rubbed his face again. “Where are we going for lunch?” 

“I'm not hungry.” I said. 

Both of them turned to look at me. “You sure?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yeah.” I said. 

Dean found a diner, and we went in and got a table. The waitress put a paper place mat and some crayons down for me. 

“Charlie, I want you to eat something.” Dean said to me. 

“I'm not hungry,” I repeated. 

“You still need to eat.” 

“How can I eat when I'm not hungry?” I snapped. 

He leaned toward me. “What did I say about attitude?” he said in a hard, quiet voice. 

“But Daddy-”

He sat up. “I don't want to hear any excuses, Charlie.” 

“You're mean!” I folded my arms and glared at him. 

The waitress came to the table just then, and Dean ordered me a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries. 

“I'm not eating it.” I said stubbornly, when she walked away. 

“We can take it with us and heat it up in the room.” Uncle Sam said. “Both of you need to take a break, I'm getting a headache from all the glaring and huffing going on here.” 

I stared at my place mat and did the maze and the word search that was on it, and listened to them talking. In a few minutes, our food arrived at the table. They started to eat right away. 

I looked up after a moment, to find Dean watching me. 

“Start eating,” he said. 

“Not hungry,” I retorted, looking down at the table again. 

Uncle Sam's phone rang and he talked for a couple of minutes. After he hung up, he said, “That was Dad, they're on their way back. They found the tracks but they think it was a coyote.”

Dean sighed. “How in the hell is this creature so hard to find?” 

“We probably need to be out there 24-7 for a couple days,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Charlie, come on, eat at least half of your sandwich.” Dean said to me. I ignored him. 

“Charlie” he said again. “Look at me.” 

I sighed and looked at him. 

“If you don't eat it here, we'll take it to the hotel and you can eat it there. But you are gonna eat it.” 

“I didn't want it!” I snapped. “You're being mean! I told you I wasn't hungry and you didn't listen and ordered me something anyway and now you want me to eat it! Well you can't make me!” 

Dean pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes. 

“She's got a point, Dean,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Shut up, Sam!” Dean snapped. 

Uncle Sam sighed and picked up his fork, shaking his head.

“We're still going to take it back to the hotel with us.” Dean said, giving me a look.

I don't know what came over me, but my annoyance turned to anger at that moment, and I reached out and swept my arm across the table. My plate flipped in the air as it fell and landed on the floor with a clatter, scattering french fries all over the linoleum. The paper place mat drifted down slowly and landed on top of the plate.

“Now I can't eat it at all.” I said, looking over at them defiantly.

Both Dean and Uncle Sam were staring at me with their mouths open, the same identical stunned looks on theire faces. 

“Okay Sam, you take care of the bill,” Dean said, sliding his chair back. “My hand has an appointment with Charlie's butt in the back seat right now.” 

Uncle Sam put his hand on Dean's arm. “Stop.” he said. “You're pissed off--”

“Damn right I'm pissed! My daughter's being a class- A brat!” 

“Just hold on. Take a couple of minutes and calm down. You remember, Dad always did that too? Counting to 10? Or 20? Or even 30 sometimes? Don't do anything while you're angry.”

Dean sighed heavily. “All right. You're right.” 

He looked at me. “We're still going out to the car, and you're in time out in the back until I'm calm enough to deal with you. Come on.” 

I pushed my chair back as the waitress came over. “Oh, what happened here? Do we need another plate of food?” 

Dean stepped over the mess and took my arm. “Let's go,” he said curtly. 

I got in the back seat and folded my arms. 

“Time out starts now,” Dean told me, looking at his watch. 

“Don't care,” I said, looking out the window. I was tired of him telling me what to do, and expecting me to do it. I was tired of someone always being around. I wanted to go do what I wanted to do, watch t.v. when I wanted, play by myself when I wanted, and not have to do what I was told. It wans't fair that this was my life now!

In a few minutes, Uncle Sam came to the car. He got into the passenger side with a styrofoam box. “I packed up the rest of your plate,” he said to Dean. 

“Thanks,” Dean said, and turned the car on. 

“She still in time out?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yep,” Dean answered tersely.

As soon as the car pulled into the parking space, I opened the back door and ran. I didn't get that far before hands were grabbing me, and of course Uncle Sam and his long legs had caught up with me almost right away. 

“What is going on with you today, young lady?” he grunted as he tried to pick me up.   
I was fighting and trying to pull away from him. He finally leaned down and threw me over his shoulder, holding my legs against his chest so I couldn't kick him. I pounded my fists on his back as he walked back to the room. It felt just like Dean, hitting a brick wall. Why did they both have to be so big and strong?

He walked into the room and leaned down, setting me down on the floor, but he took my arm and held me there as he sat down on the end of the bed. 

“This stops now,” he said. 

I pulled my arm. “Let me go!” 

“No,” he said simply.

I yanked my arm again, and when he didn't let go, I started to bring it up to my mouth again to bite him.

“No!” Uncle Sam shouted. “Charlotte Anne, you need to stop all this!” 

He pulled me towards him and turned me, holding on to me like he had that first day I was with them. 

“Lemme gooooo!” I whined.

“What's going on?” he asked, as I continued to struggle. “Why are you acting like this?” 

“I'm tired of always having to do what everyone tells me to do!” I snapped. “I want to do what I want!”

“News flash, you don't get to, because you're a kid,” Dean told me. 

“That's not true! I got to do what I wanted before!”

“Only because your mother was too sick to be a proper parent to you! And, it sounds like she let you get away with an awful lot.” 

“She did not!” I yelled, struggling with Uncle Sam some more. “You're mean! Uncle Sam is mean! All you want to do it tell me what to do all the time! I hate it! I hate it here! I wish I'd never met you!” 

Dean's eyes went wide for a second, and his face got red. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they looked funny. He looked down at the floor. 

“I-- I've gotta-- I'm out of here,” he said in a low voice, and he turned and left the room.

Uncle Sam turned me around to face him and took my upper arms in his hands.

“Charlotte Anne Winchester, what the hell is going on? How can you say something like that to your father!” His voice was loud and stern. I looked at him and his face was angry. His olive green eyes were very dark, and a muscle twitched in his cheek. I dropped my eyes to the floor, unable to look at him any more. “Young lady, you are in serious trouble! Your behavior today is out of control, and this is the last straw! You are getting a spanking.”

“Nooo,” I whined, pulling away from him. 

“Yes,” he said firmly.

“But-- but I was upset before because of the dogs, you said that Dean was in the wrong!” I whined.

“That's true. However, you also got out of the car when we were at a scene, after you had been told to stay there, and you were about to come inside! Then you threw major attitude in the car and the diner, and you pulled that stunt with the plate, dumping it on the floor so that you wouldn't have to eat it, which was a waste of good food and you gave the waitress extra work to do. Then, when we get back here, the first thing you do it take off running, which is a rule broken. And then you try and bite me again, after you already bit me once this morning! And last but not least, you mouth off to Dean and say something really hurtful to him. So yeah, you deserve a spanking, and you're gonna get one.” 

“But Uncle Saaaamm...” I whined. 

“NO.” he said decisively. He picked me up and then all of a sudden I was face down over his lap. I started to struggle and kick. Uncle Sam moved his leg so that mine were pinned under his, and I couldn't move that much. I was tilted forward a little bit, and I wrapped my arms around his calf and held on. I was starting to regret how I had been acting all day. I realized Uncle Sam's big hand was going to be spanking my butt, and it was going to hurt, and then the first swat landed. I yelped loudly and tears came to my eyes.

This time he talked as he spanked. “Now you listen to me, young lady,” he said sternly. “I know you've had a rough time, and we've been trying to give you a break, but your behavior today is inexcusable. You can be upset without throwing tantrums and sassing and being rude. This is going to stop, and I mean now. And you need to seriously think about what you say to people and whether or not what you're going to say is hurtful. Do you understand me?” 

Several hard swats had fallen by the end of his speech, and my bottom was stinging.   
“I said, do you understand me?” He repeated in a hard voice. “Are you listening to me?”

“Yes! Yes, Uncle Sam, I'm sorry!” I wailed, the tears in my eyes spilling over.

“I'm not going to let this behavior go any more,” he said. “If you can't get control over yourself, then we'll have to get strict with you and really come down on you at the first sign of misbehavior. Is that what you want? You want to be in trouble over every little thing?”

“No, Uncle Sam!” I whimpered. 

“You need to seriously think about how you've been acting. And it needs to change.” 

“Okay...okay Uncle Sam...please...” tears were starting to drip off my face onto the floor.

I whimpered as his hand began to fall again, harder than before, and before long I was sobbing. After several more swats he stopped, and he stood me up in front of him. I expected him to hug me, but he didn't. He stood up and led me across the room, and turned me towards the wall.

“Wh-what are you d-doing?” I sobbed.

“You're going to stand in the corner and think about all your behavior today,” he said firmly. 

“B- but I've n-never--” I glanced up at him.

“You will stay here and think about everything until I call you out,” he said. “Is that clear?”

“Y-yes, Uncle Sam,” I sobbed. 

I heard him walk away. I looked at the walls through my tears. There was nothing to look at, nothing to concentrate on except my thoughts. So I thought about what he said. I had been horrible today, I didn't know what had come over me in the diner, I just got so mad at being told what to do. They were making rules and telling me what to do to keep me safe, and I wasn't listening or obeying them. I hadn't meant what I said to Dean either. I realized that I loved him and Uncle Sam, that they were taking care of me, and they didn't have to. Dean could have said that he didn't want a kid, I had classmates who knew who their dads were but the dads never did anything with them or took care of them. 

Tears were pouring down my face at this point. 

“Charlotte Anne,” Uncle Sam said. “Are you done thinking about things? Are you ready to change how you've been acting?” 

“Y-yes, Uncle S-sam,” I sobbed out. 

“Then come here.” 

I turned and trudged back over to him. He was sitting on the end of the bed again. I went up to him and he took me in his arms and pulled me into his lap. 

“I'm suh-sorry!” I wailed as he held me. “I'm suh-sorry I'm so b-bad!” 

“Shh, you're not bad, you misbehave and get out of control sometimes. And it's my job, and your Dad's job, to get you back in line. You're a good girl, Charlie, you're just learning how to live differently that you've been living, and it's hard sometimes.” 

The door opened, and I turned my head to see Dean come in the room. 

He closed the door and stood there looking at us. 

“Daddy-” I said, and I slid off of Uncle Sam's lap and ran to him, because he was my Daddy.

He bent down and picked me up in a tight hug, and I said, “I'm sorry I said that, I'm sorry I was mean, I didn't mean it--”

“Shh,” Daddy said, rubbing the back of my head. 

“No, I am sorry!” I said again. “I won't ever say that again!” 

“All right. It's all right,” he said. 

“I'm sorry I was bad today and I sassed you and didn't listen--”

“Charlie. Shh. You're okay.” 

Daddy walked over to the bed and sat down next to Uncle Sam. He set me on his lap. “This was just a bump in the road today. We're still figuring things out.” 

“We'll get it.” Uncle Sam said, rubbing my back. 

I held tight to Daddy until I had calmed down and stopped crying. At that point I felt very sleepy. 

“You awake?” I heard Daddy ask.

“Mmm,” I mumbled. I felt him lift me, and he walked a short distance. I tightened my arms around him. “Stay,” I murmured. I opened my eyes for a moment, and he was setting us on his bed. He propped himself up at the headboard and held me on his chest. I felt him rubbing my back and I drifted into sleep.


	15. Chapter 15

My stomach woke me up- it was rumbling so much it was hurting me. I opened my eyes and sat up- I was in my bed. I swung my feet over and got up, walking around the divider to the main part of the room. Dean- my Daddy- was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper.

He put it down and looked at me. “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said, smiling at me.. 

“I'm starving!” I grumped. 

“Yeah, we tried to wake you up last night, but you were out. I figured you needed it. Sam just left to get breakfast, but there's some leftover pizza if you want.” 

“Yes please.” I said. I got out of bed and went over to the table and sat down in the chair next to Daddy. He got up and walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a pizza box.

“It's cold, but it's still edible,” he said as he brought it over. He took a slice of pizza out and put in on a napkin in front of me.

“Thank you,” I said to him. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat down in his chair again.

“Okay I guess.” I said. I looked down and realized I was in my pajamas. “Did you change me?”

“Yeah, I did,” he admitted. “Like I said you were really out of it and only woke up a little bit. Sam helped me.” 

I ate the slice of pizza quickly, because I was so hungry. I put the crust on the table and said, “Can I have another piece?”

“Sure,” Daddy got up and brought me another slice. He went into the bathroom for a couple of minutes. I was halfway through the second slice when the hotel door started to open. 

At the same time, the bathroom door opened and Daddy stepping into the room. 

As the hotel door opened, I remembered yesterday, when I had opened the door and Aunt Michelle had been standing there. I remembered her grabbing me and pulling me out of the room, and I remembered the fear I had felt as we drove away from the hotel.

Uncle Sam was standing in the door way, holding a drink carrier and a paper bag in one hand, and trying to get the key out of the doorknob with the other. 

“Hey, you're up.” he said, glancing over at me and then focusing on his keys.

Outside the room, a woman in a business suit walked by behind him. Aunt Michelle! I screamed and scrambled off the chair and ran over to my bed, grabbing the covers and wrapping them around me. 

“NOOO!” I screamed. “You're not taking me again!” 

Daddy came walking over to me quickly, concern on his face. “Sweetheart, it's okay,” he said.

Uncle Sam had closed the door and locked it, and he walked over to the table to put his things down. He started to walk over to me, and said, “What did you think you saw, Charlie?”

“That lady that walked by--” I said. “I thought it was- was--” I couldn't say her name. I opened my mouth, and then I threw up all over the bed. 

I burst into tears, and threw up some more. 

“Oh, geez!” Daddy said, coming over to stand by the side of the bed. He put his hand on my back. 

I looked up at him. “Daddy I'm sorry!” I wailed. 

“It's okay, Charlie,” he said. “I think you're going to need a bath.” 

I had throw up all down my front, and in my hair too. There was little black olive bits and chewed crust all over the blankets on the bed. 

“You give her a bath, I'll take care of this,” Uncle Sam said.

“Come on,” Daddy took my arm and helped me off of the bed. I followed him to the bathroom, still crying, and he started the water in the tub. Then he pulled my shirt over my head. 

“You know, I guess we should clean this stuff out of your hair first,” he said. “Lean over the sink.” I stood in front of the sink, and he turned the tap on and wet my hair, gently working the bits of food out of my hair.

“Let's take your pants off now,” he bent down and helped me off with my pajama bottoms and underpants, and then said,” Get in the tub.” 

The tub had a couple of inches of water in it by then, and he turned the tap off and knelt down next to the tub. I stepped in and sat down and put my arms around myself.

“I'm cold,” I whined. 

“We'll be done in a minute.” he said soothingly. He wet and soaped a washcloth, then he washed my neck and torso off. Some of it had gone on my legs too, and he washed them as well. I hadn't had anyone wash me since forever, and it made me feel like I was little again, but I found that I didn't mind it. It felt nice to have someone else take care of me like that. I still felt shaky and scared.

“Lean your head back and I'll wash your hair,” he said. He got a glass, and used it to wet my hair. 

“Um, I'm not sure how to do this.” he said.

“Put your hand on her forehead,” Uncle Sam said from the doorway.

Daddy turned around to look at him. “What do you mean?” 

Uncle Sam came into the bathroom and then sat on the edge of the tub. He held his hand upright and put it on my forehead, making a barrier for the water so that it didn't drip into my face as he shampooed and rinsed my hair. 

“Wow,” Daddy said.” Where'd you learn that?”

“I was with Jess when she was babysitting her niece and nephew one weekend, that's how she washed their hair.” Uncle Sam said.

“That's great,” Daddy said. “Thanks, Sammy. “

“We done?” Uncle Sam leaned down and pulled the plug. 

Daddy helped me stand up and then wrapped a towel around me. He picked me up and carried me out to the room. Uncle Sam brought over some clothes, and Daddy dried me off and helped me get dressed. Then he sat down at the table with me in his lap.

“How is your stomach? Do you want to eat something?”

“Uh-uh.” I said. 

“You want to lay down?”

“Stay here with you,” I said, and I leaned against him, listening to his voice in his chest as he talked with Uncle Sam. I still felt shaky and hollow inside. I dozed as they ate breakfast and talked. 

A knock on the door startled me awake, and I tensed up as Uncle Sam walked over to the door. 

Daddy looked down at me and rubbed my back, saying, “It's all right,” to me. 

Uncle Sam let Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby in. Grandpa John had a bag in his hands.

“I got something for you, Charlie,” he said.

I slid off of Daddy's lap and walked over to him. He gave me the bag and I opened it. Inside was a pink baseball cap with a Hello Kitty embroidered patch on the front. She was wearing a baseball hat and holding a baseball and a bat in her hands.

“This ought to keep the sun off your face,” he said with a smile. “That's that cat you like, right?”

“Yeah!” I said happily. “Thank you!” I stepped forward to hug him, and after he put his arms around me, I got a cascade of images in my head: lots of tall trees and vines and leaves, and I knew that it was a jungle somewhere, then a man dressed in a green uniform holding a gun and falling down, and then fire rolling across the ceiling in a house. The images were in and out of my mind in a split second, and as I let go and stepped back, I blurted, “The fire on the ceiling had nothing to do with you.”   
The words just spilled out of my mouth, like they used to when I was younger. 

I stepped back again, and looked up at him. He had a shocked look on his face, and his face was pale. 

I ran over to Daddy and climbed into his lap, bursting into tears and burying my face in his flannel.

“I'm sorry!” I sobbed. “I didn't mean to say anything, I can't help it, it just-- it just happens!” 

Daddy pulled me away from his shirt and looked down at me. “It's all right, you're not in trouble. Why do you think you'd be in trouble?”

“Be-because Mommy got upset with me when I would say things, 'cause people would get mad at her! I can't help it, honest! It—it's hard to make it stop!” 

Then I remembered, I had been very small, and we had been with some older relatives, and I had blurted out something about how Great-Uncle Max took secret drinks from a little silver bottle that he kept in his pocket. And he had gotten angry, and leaned down and smacked my mouth, and then started swatting my bottom. Mom had pulled me away from him and yelled at him, but then later she had been angry with me too, and scolded me.

I had been able to make it stop when I was little, but it took a lot of concentration on my part. And I was worried and stressed the whole time that I would slip up and blurt something out, so I was very quiet for a long time. 

“What is she talking about?” Grandpa John asked in a quiet voice. His face was upset.

“She used to-- 'know things' when she was younger, things about people, and would blurt them out, and people would get angry about it.” Daddy explained. 

“I'll be damned,” Uncle Bobby murmured.

“Dean, you should investigate this more,” Grandpa John said. “Make sure it isn't part of any...deal, if you know what I mean. And if not, find out where it comes from, because it didn't come from our side of the family.” 

“Missouri could help,” Uncle Bobby said.

“That's true,” Grandpa John agreed.

“What's a Missouri?” I asked, sitting up and sniffling.

“Missouri is a woman we know who is a psychic, she knows things like you.” Grandpa John said. “She'd be able to talk to you and help you figure out what's going on, and how to control it.”

“I don't want to be like this!” I exclaimed. “It-- it just make people mad!” 

I looked at Daddy and told him what I had just remembered about my Great Uncle, and when I had finished talking, they all looked angry. 

“He shouldn't have hit you,” Daddy said, stroking my hair. “I'm glad your mom pulled you away and yelled at him, but I don't know that she should have gotten angry at you also.”

“But people kept getting mad at her. It was my fault.” I said.

“It wasn't something you could control, Charlie.” Uncle Sam said. “We won't ever get mad at you for something like that, all right? You won't get in trouble with any of us.”

“Okay, Uncle Sam.” I said. He smiled at me and I smiled back. 

Daddy's phone rang, and he looked at the display.

“Police are calling again,” he said. “Winchester. Yes...WHAT?” He sat up, and patted my back.

“Get up,” he said to me, and I got off of his lap. “I'll be right back,” he murmured, and went outside. 

I went over to Uncle Sam and got on his lap, feeling scared. 

We all looked at each other, wondering what was going on. In a few minutes, Daddy came back into the room. He came over and sat back down in the chair.

“Charlie, I have something to tell you,” he said seriously. “Your Aunt Michelle was put in jail for fraud and attempted kidnapping.” 

“What's fraud?” I asked him.

“She was charging people more money than she should have been, at her job, and keeping the money.” Daddy explained. “But...the thing is, she's escaped from jail. The police are searching for her, but they suggested that we go to a different hotel, one with better security for now. Until she's found.” 

“Why?” I looked at him and then up at Uncle Sam. “What's security mean?”

“Well, there's a chance that she could try and come after you again.” Daddy said.  
“Better security means better locks on the doors and stuff. They want us to be extra safe right now, all right?”

I started to cry. Uncle Sam hugged me to him. 

“What if she comes to get me?” I wailed. “What if she- she--”

“No, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said firmly. “Don't start thinking like that. You hear me?”

“Yes, Uncle Sam,” I said. 

“Let's get everything packed up, and I'll call around and see what I can find.” Daddy looked down at his phone.

“I'll look online and see which hotels have the best security features.” Uncle Sam said. “Charlie, go ahead and start getting your stuff together. Check under the bed to make sure all your toys are out of there.” 

“I don't want to, I want to sit with you or Daddy,” I whined.

“Charlie, both of us have to do some work right now,” Uncle Sam said. 

“But--”

“Why don't I come over and sit with you while you get packed?” Grandpa John said. “And you can show me some of your toys.” he smiled at me.

“O-okay,” I said uncertainly. 

I got off of Uncle Sam's lap, and went over to my bed, and he followed me. I felt shy suddenly. I laid down on the floor and scooted under the bed to get the toys that were under there. When I stood up, he was sitting on the side of the bed. He picked up one of the tiny dolls and looked at it. “Wow, this is small,” he commented.

“It's a Polly Pocket,” I told him. “All of their stuff is small, so you can put it in your pocket.” I put the toys down I was holding, and walked over to get the backpack that my toys were in. 

He had picked up a couple of Hello Kitty figurines and was looking at them. “So there's more than one cat?” he asked me.

“Yeah, some of those are just her in different outfits, but she has a sister, and there are other characters too, Like ChocoCat and Keroppi.”

“Ker-oppi?” He raised his eyebrows.

“He's a frog, that's the sound they make, right?” I opened the backpack and started to load the toys in. 

He chuckled. “I guess you're right,” he said. “You have a lot of little toys.” 

“I got them so I'd have something to play with when I went with Mommy when she got her treatments,” I told him. “I had a really cool, big dollhouse, but I couldn't bring that with me. This stuff I could put in my pockets or in Mommy's purse.” 

He looked at me for a long moment, as if he didn't know what to say. Then he picked up an action figure, of Wolverine. “Now this, I recognize,” he said. “How do you know the X-Men?”

“There was a cartoon on for a while. Mommy wouldn't let me watch the movies 'cause of violence and cussing. But the cartoons were cool.” 

“The boys liked the X-Men too.” he said. “We'll have to see if there are any comics left at Bobby's.” 

“Comics?”

“Yeah, the boys loved to read comic books, and a lot of their stuff got left at Bobby's over the years. Next time we visit, we'll have to see if there's anything left.” 

Uncle Bobby came over. “Yeah, I still got stuff,” he said. “You know me, I'm a pack rat, can't throw nothin' away. Of course, I had no idea I'd be saving that stuff to share with Dean's kid one day,” he grinned. “I know I've got a bunch of comics and books, and a big box of Legos too.”

“Those dam- darned things,” Grandpa John said, shaking his head. “They always ended up all over the back seat and floor of the car, and there's still a couple shoved into the back heating vent of the Impala that I could never get out.” 

“Well, you don't have to listen to the rattle any more,” Uncle Sam said from across the room. “I happen to think it's a comforting sound when the heat kicks on and the Legos rattle around for a second.” 

“Comforting? You've obviously never stepped on one in your bare feet in the middle of the night,” Grandpa John retorted, and they laughed. 

The hotel door opened, and I gasped a little bit. I saw Grandpa John look at me. It was just Daddy, and he walked over to Uncle Sam and they started to talk about hotels, looking at the laptop together. 

“Oh, Uncle Sam, I forgot to have you brush my hair,” I said, getting off the bed. 

“I'll do it,” Grandpa John said. “Let him talk with your Dad.”

I walked into the bathroom and brought my brush over to him, and sat in front of him.  
“Your hair is the same color as Mary's,” he said, as he started to brush through my hair.

“Mary?” I asked.

“My wife. Your grandmother.”

“Oh, her. It is?”

“Yes. I'll have to see if I can find the picture I have of her when she was a kid, you look a lot like her.” 

“I do?” 

“From what I can remember, yes. I only have a couple pictures of her from her childhood.”

“Why?” 

“There was... a fire when the boys were younger, and... most of our belongings were destroyed.” 

“Oh, sorry.” I said. I realized that that must have been the fire I had seen, so I didn't want to ask him about it. From how upset he had looked, I guessed it had been really bad. 

He handed me the brush. “If you have a hair elastic, I can braid your hair if you want.” he said.

“Okay,” I dug in the outer pocket of the backpack and put a couple on the bed next to me. He took the brush back, and I felt him moving my hair around. He braided one side, and then the other. 

“Thank you,” I said shyly, when he handed me the brush again. He looked down at me and smiled, and tweaked my nose. 

I walked over to Daddy and put my arms around his waist. He looked down at me. “Don't you look cute,” he said, tugging on the end of a braid. 

“All right, I've found a place,” he said. “It's a little far from here, and more expensive, but I'm willing to pay the extra. They've got a suite of attached rooms available this afternoon, at around 4 pm. So there's a set for us, and it connects to another set for you two. Is that all right?” Daddy looked at Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby.

“I don't know if I want to share a room with this old coot,” Uncle Bobby jerked his thumb at Grandpa John. “He snores awful loud.”

“As long as you don't have any fried onions, I won't mind, old man,” Grandpa John replied, and they both chuckled. “If you have fried onions, you're sleeping in the tub that night.” 

“You ever notice, they're kinda like an old married couple?” Uncle Sam asked Daddy, and they grinned at each other. 

“I have to make some more calls,” Daddy said, looking down at me. He tried to move my arm.

“I want to be with you,” I whined.

“I need some privacy, Charlie,” Daddy told me. “I'll only be a couple of minutes.” 

I let go of him and bit my lip so I wouldn't cry. 

“This hotel has a pool,” Uncle Sam said to me. “Do you have a bathing suit?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think we packed it.”

“Well, if not, we can get you one.” Grandpa John said easily. “We should go get our bags together.” He said to Uncle Bobby, and they left the room. 

Uncle Sam shut down his laptop and closed it, and then walked over to the dresser to pack his things. I sat down at the table. “What did you get for breakfast?” I asked him.

“Muffins and bagels,” he told me. “Go ahead and eat if you're hungry.”

I looked in the bag and pulled out a large blueberry muffin. 

Uncle Sam walked over to the fridge and got something out, then he brought it over to me. “I got you an orange juice,” he said.

“Uh, I don't like orange juice,” I said shyly. “Sorry.”

“Oh, I thought you did. I'm sorry.”

I shook my head. “Uh-uh, I don't like orange flavored things.”

“Oh, okay. I'll have to remember that. What kind of juice do you like?”

“Um, apple or white grape or cranberry.” 

“Are you all packed?” he asked. 

“Yeah, except for the stuff in the bathroom,” I told him.

Daddy came back into the room. “Let's get a move on,” he said, and he began to pack up his duffle. I heard a clicking noise, and looked over. He had a gun in his hands!

“Daddy, where did that come from?” I asked, shocked.

“In my bag,” he said. He slid something out of the bottom of the gun, looked at it, and then shoved it back in. He put the gun in his duffle, and then turned to look at me. “You never, and I mean never, touch or mess with a gun or other weapon, you hear me? I know we talked about that before, but I am serious about this. I find you fooling with a gun, and the spanking that I give you will make all the other spankings you've gotten seem like love taps. You got that?”

“Uh- yes, Daddy,” I said.

“Dean, you're scaring her,” Uncle Sam said.

Daddy looked at Uncle Sam. “Good, she should be scared. This is very important, and I don't want her to forget it. She needs to take it seriously.” 

“Well, we need to make sure we're practicing proper weapons safety too,” Uncle Sam said. He zipped his duffle closed, and then went into the bathroom. He came out with my toothbrush, and toothpaste. “Charlie, I'm going to put this in with my stuff,” he said.

“Okay, Uncle Sam,” I said. 

“Are we ready to go?” Daddy asked. 

“Let me look around,” Uncle Sam said. He walked over to the sofa and looked around.  
“Charlie, you have all of your shoes?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I got up and walked over to the sofa bed. I picked up my sandals and slip-ons. “Here they are.”

“Put 'em in your bag, and let's get out of here,” Daddy said. 

I put them in my suitcase, and Uncle Sam came over and zipped it closed. He picked up my bags, and went out to the car, leavning the hotel door open. 

Daddy shouldered his bag and turned to look at me. “Well?” he asked. “Come on, Charlie.”

“Is it- it is okay??” I asked hesitantly.

“Yes, it's safe. You're with me and Uncle Sam. Come on, let's go.” He held out his hand to me, and I walked across the room and took it. In a few minutes we were checked out and driving to a different hotel, even further away from my old life.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler for a character death in the movie “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I”.  
> Hello my lovelies, my apologies for a chapter that may seem a little darker than usual. My muse went to a place that I wasn't really expecting, and I just let her go. And unfortunately, stress can cause people to react more harshly than they normally would.  
> ******

Uncle Sam's phone rang, “Agent Sambora,” he answered. “Yes? Oh...oh man...hold on, let me get my notebook...” he shifted on the front seat and pulled out a little notebook and pen. “Go ahead...wait, that's the same site as the first one...Geez...all right. Let me talk to my partner and I'll get back in touch with you.” He disconnected the call and looked over at Daddy. “You're not going to believe this,” he said, “There was another attack, at the very first site, where...” he jerked his head at me.

“Oh man,” Daddy said under his breath. “When?”

“About 45 minutes ago, some hikers discovered it.” Uncle Sam was trying to talk quietly.

“So this thing is getting bolder.” Daddy said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, or more desperate.” Uncle Sam said. “Want to go check it out?”

“Yeah, I do,” Daddy said. “But we've got to get to the hotel by 4 and check in, and if we go back to the site after, it's gonna be even further away...shit,” he sighed and raked his hand through his hair. “What are we gonna do about Charlie? I'm not taking her there.” 

“Let me call Dad and let him know, see what he suggests.” Uncle Sam said.

“What's happening?” I asked, leaning forward and looking back and forth at them.  
“Did you say-- did you say the, the creature came back to the place where-- where Mommy—” I burst into loud sobs, and curled up in a ball on the seat. 

“Hey, Charlie,” Daddy said. “It's all right.” 

Uncle Sam put his finger in his ear. “What? I can't hear--you know what, Dad, let me call you back,” he said in a loud voice. He hung up the phone and turned to me. “Honey, it's all right, you're safe,” he said. “Nothing will happen to you.” 

“But what if you go there to check things out and it's still there, and it-- it-- you said it's getting bolder!” I wailed, hiccuping with sobs. 

“Charlie,” Daddy said in a loud voice. “This isn't helping anything. Get ahold of yourself. We need to make some plans.” 

I tried to stop crying, but I couldn't. Daddy and Uncle Sam talked in low voices for a moment, then Daddy pulled the car over to a shoulder on the side of the road.

He unbuckled and turned to me. “Sam and I need to make some phone calls,” he told me. “You're going to stay in the car right now, got it? We'll be just outside.” 

Uncle Sam turned and offered me a reassuring smile, and cupped my cheek with his hand. They both got out of the car, and walked a couple of feet away. I watched them out the window as they paced and talked. I still couldn't stop crying. Why was this happening? Why wouldn't this creature stop? How had Aunt Michelle escaped from jail? Was I ever going to be safe again? Would Daddy and Uncle Sam be safe? I felt more and more anxious, until I couldn't stand it.

I opened the car door and got out, running over to Daddy. I threw my arms around his waist, and he turned, surprised. “I'm gonna have to call you back,” he said into the phone. “Charlie, what-” he started to say as he hung up.

“Please don't go!” I wailed. “What if you go there and it's there and it gets you and, and then you die too? What will happen to me? Pleeeease! Don't leave me!” I was crying so hard I could barely see.

I heard Daddy sigh, but it was angry-sounding. He took my arm and tried to pull me away from him. “Charlie, I told you to stay in the car!” he snapped. He spanked my bottom once, and I gasped and let go of him, stumbling back so he wouldn't swat me again.

“But Daddy--” I sobbed.

“Get your ass back in the car, now!” he pointed. I looked up at him and his jaw twitched. I hurried back to the car and climbing into the back, curling up in a little ball and sobbing. 

A couple minutes later, I heard him and Uncle Sam talking, right next to the car. Their voices were raised. I heard Daddy say, “I don't know, Sam, do you have a better idea?This whole situation sucks!” 

They both got into the car, slamming their doors and muttering under their breath. Daddy started the car and pulled out into traffic.

“Charlie,” Daddy said. “Charlie, are you buckled? Sit up, get buckled, and look at me,” he said, and his voice was firm. “You keep disobeying me like that and I'm not giving you any more warnings,” he told me, “I'm tired of this. I tell you to do something, you do it. You disobey me, and I'm gonna spank your butt right then and there, and I don't care if we're on the side of the road or in a crowded store. You will listen to me and do what I tell you. You got that?”

Tears filled my eyes again as he talked. Why was he being so mean?

“Y-yes, Daddy.” I said quietly. 

“What? Answer me!” he said loudly.

I cleared my throat, “Yes, Daddy,” I said louder. 

“Dean,” Uncle Sam said. 

“What, Sam?” Daddy snapped. “Didn't you yourself say that you weren't going to keep letting her get away with shit, that you were going to call her on it right away?”

“Well...yeah...but, I mean, she's upset now,” Uncle Sam tried to sound reasonable.

“She's upset because she got in trouble and got her butt smacked,” Daddy said.  
“Charlie, we're going to go check into the hotel, and then we have to go out. You're going to stay with either Dad or Bobby.” 

“But—but--” I started to protest. 

“I don't want to hear it!” he snapped. “That's the way it has to be right now!” 

“But Daddyyyy!” I whined. 

He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “Dammit, Charlie, I don't want to hear any whining! What did I just say to you? Do I need to pull this car over again and put you over my knees?”

I shrank back against the seat. “No, Daddy!” I said. “I'm sorry!” I bit my lip and turned my head to look out the window, hoping that looking outside would distract me from all the upset in my tummy and head. 

“Dean, chill out,” Uncle Sam said quietly. “You're starting to sound more and more like Dad when he was in his full on military mode.”

“Well, maybe I'm starting to understand why he pulled that on us,” Daddy muttered. “It's frustrating when you've got a kid who won't listen. I can't imagine having two pulling the same shit. No wonder he blistered our asses like he did.”

“Dean--” Uncle Sam said, and then he shook his head, and turned away, looking out the window. 

The rest of the drive was quiet. We pulled into a big fancy hotel, and I took Daddy's hand right away when I got out of the car. He was walking fast, and I had to hurry to keep up with him. Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby were already in the lobby.  
Daddy let my hand go, and said, “You stay with Uncle Sam.” 

I stepped close to Uncle Sam and took his hand. He looked down at me and smoothed his hand over my hair. 

“They told me that Dean has to be the one to fill out all the paperwork,” Grandpa John said. He looked down at me. “Charlie, want to go check out the pool after we get settled?”

“Uh, I dunno,” I said uncomfortably. 

I shifted, and pulled on Uncle Sam's hand. “Uncle Sam, I gotta go potty,” I said quietly.

“Okay,” he said, looking around. “Let's go ask where they are.”

We walked up to the counter next to Daddy. He looked down at me and frowned. “Charlie, what--” he started, and then he noticed Uncle Sam. 

“We'll be right back.” Uncle Sam told him.

He led me down a hallway to the restrooms. “Are you okay to go in by yourself, or do you want to come in the men's with me?”

“I'm okay.” I said nervously.

“I'll be right here, all right?” he smiled at me. 

I did what I needed as quickly as possible, and hurried out to the hallway, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw Uncle Sam. I took his hand again and we walked back out to the lobby. Daddy was standing with Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby.

He handed Uncle Sam two plastic cards. “We're in the business wing,” he said. “You need a key card to get on the floor, this blue one, and the white one is for the room. There's also an alarm we can activate at night.” 

“Let's go get some of the bags, so we can get her settled,” Grandpa John said. 

“I'll wait here with Charlie, and we can all go up together,” Uncle Sam said. The others left the lobby, and Uncle Sam said, “Look, there's a huge fish tank. You want to go over and look at it?” We walked over and watched the fish swimming around. It was in the front of a restaurant that was in the lobby. “Looks fancy,” Uncle Sam said. “Maybe we can eat there one night. Have you ever eaten in a fancy restaurant before?”

“Uh, a couple times. Cousin Jackie had a wedding thing at one, and Mommy's work had a Christmas party at one once too. Mommy said it wasn't worth it to bring me though 'cause I never wanted to eat the fancy foods.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Uncle Sam said. “Kids aren't used to fancy stuff, are they?”

“There you are,” said Daddy. “Let's go.” 

We went into an elevator- which didn't have buttons, you had to press a number code into a keypad- and then went onto the floor. There was a small lobby when you got off the elevator, and you had to put the plastic card into a slot and wait for the door to open. We followed Daddy down the hallway.

“Here is is,” he said. When you opened the door, the alarm system made a beeping sound.

The room was big, with high ceilings. It had a large sofa facing a flat screen tv, and a full kitchen with a litte stove, fridge, and microwave. There was a large desk in the corner as well as a table and chairs in the kitchen area. At the back of the room there was a door, and it opened into a bedroom with two large beds and a bathroom. 

There was another door next to the wall where the front door was, that opened into another set of rooms. That was the set for Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby. 

“You and I will sleep in the bedroom, Sam can take the fold out couch,” Daddy said.  
“Fine by me,” Uncle Sam said. He set my backpack with all my toys on the sofa.  
Daddy took the other bags into the bedroom. 

“Charlie, I also brought in your drawing supplies and your 3DS,” Uncle Sam said. “Maybe playing that will take your mind off of things.” 

“There's room service as well as that place downstairs,” Daddy said. “They offer continental breakfast in the morning too.” 

“We can order room service tonight,” Grandpa John said. “Have you ever had room service before, Charlie?”

“Uh-uh,” I said. “What is it?”

“We order food from the kitchen and they bring it to us, and we eat it here,” he told me.  
“We can eat laying in bed, watching tv, it's pretty decadent.” he smiled.

“Uh- does that mean I'm staying with you?” I asked, and then I realized how rude that sounded, and tears filled my eyes.

Daddy was over at the counter, going through a duffle. I saw him fiddling with the gun again. 

“Charlie, it's all right,” Uncle Sam said. “We won't be gone long.” 

“Sorry, kiddo,” Grandpa John said apologetically. “I know I'm not your first choice. Maybe we can find a movie that you like, huh?”

“She loves the Harry Potter series,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Great, I'll see if I can find one of them.” 

“All right, we ready?” Daddy turned and came over to me. He bent down and hugged me. “Be good,” he said firmly. 

“I will,” I said, trying not to cry. 

Daddy tapped under my chin. “Be brave, kiddo,” he said. “You can do it. We'll be back.”

I hugged him again. “Daddy-” I said, the tears spilling over.

“Come on, Charlie, I already hugged you,” he said. “Let go.” 

“Come here,” Uncle Sam said. I turned to him, and he picked me up and hugged me tightly. “It's okay,” he said softly. “We'll be fine, and so will you. Grandpa John understands that you're a little uncomfortable.” He set me down on the floor, and they left, with Uncle Bobby bringing up the rear.

Grandpa John picked up a plastic folder. “You hungry? Let's see what they have to eat.”

I sniffled and wiped my face off. “Okay,” I said. We walked over to the sofa and I sat down next to him.

“Do you want to get a pizza?” he asked.

The thought of eating pizza made my stomach flip, since I had thrown up pizza two times recently. “Uh, no thanks.” I said. 

We decided on hamburgers and french fries.

“Don't tell Uncle Sam I'm not making you eat any vegetables,” he said, grinning at me so that his dimples showed. “I know he's a stickler for that.” 

He turned on the t.v., and started flipping through the channels.

“Wait, go back,” I said. “I like that cooking show.” It was the one I watched with my mom.

“You want to watch that?” he asked. 

I told him about the show and the people on it and how it worked. He put his arm on the back of the sofa and I moved in closer to him. 

There was a loud knock on the door and I jerked, startled.

“It's probably our dinner,” he said. He got up, and walked over to the door. He talked with someone for a moment, and then came back over holding a big tray with a two silver domes on it. He set the tray on the coffee table, and took the domes off. The plates were fancy and the burgers were large.

He handed me a tall cup. “I got you a chocolate milk shake,” he said. “Hope you like them. I remember you saying you like chocolate.”

“Yeah, I do,” I said, smiling at him. “Thanks.”

We ate and watched the cooking show, and then after it was over, I picked up the remote and started flipping through the channels. 

“Oh, look, one of the Harry Potters,” I said. We watched it together for a while,  
and then I remembered which one it was, and why I had only watched it once, because Dobby died. 

I burst into tears, curling in on myself. 

“Come here,” Grandpa John said gently. He lifted me onto his lap and I leaned against him. He put his arms around me and let me cry. He was wearing a flannel shirt just like Daddy and Uncle Sam wore. I turned my face into the softness and noticed again that he smelled like camp fire smoke. It was comforting somehow, and I slid my arms around him. 

“It's hard when you lose someone,” Grandpa John said quietly. “I lost Mary when your Dad was 4 years old, and I still miss her every day.”

I looked up at him. His face looked sad.

“Daddy was 4?” I asked.

“Yeah, and Sammy was just a baby. It was a hard time for all of us.”

“Uncle Sam never even got to know his mommy,” I said, and that made me sad, and I started to cry harder. 

“Shh,” he murmured, rubbing my back. “Charlie, can I ask you about when you used to...see Mary?”

“Okay,”I sniffled and tried to stop crying.

“When would you see her? What do you think made it happen?”

“I was having lotsa bad dreams,” I said. “I didn't want to go to sleep at night sometimes 'cause I was scared of them.”

“Do you remember what the dreams were about?” he asked. 

“Uh, not really,” I said. “Oh, there was one, it was really scary...there were people with lotsa diff'rent color eyes.”

He stopped rubbing my back. “What colors? Do you remember?”

“Umm... they were black, like their eyes were empty. It was really creepy. And there was one, this one guy, he had yellow.”

I felt Grandpa John tense up. “Do you remember anything about him?” His voice was calm, but it seemed like he was trying to make it calm.

“No, but...that dream scared me so bad I wet the bed.” I ducked my head, embarrassed.  
“That's okay, it happens,” he said. “Anything else?” 

“Well, I would wake up in the middle of the night and be so scared that I couldn't even call out for Mommy,” I told him. “But then I would feel it get cold in the room, and when I opened my eyes she was there by my bed. And she would smile at me, and it made me feel like there was a warm blanket over me.” I cleared my throat. “And she would tell me that I was safe and it would be okay, and that she was watching over me.” 

“That's amazing,” he murmured. “Did it help you?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I don't think she told me her name, but I just knew it. Like when I know about people, you know?” 

He chuckled. “No, I don't know. I can't even begin to understand. I'm glad she was there for you and able to help you.” 

“Me too,” I said. 

He hugged me tightly for a moment. “Thank you for telling me about it,” he said. 

I hugged him back. “You're welcome.” 

“You're a special little girl, Charlie,” he said. Then his phone rang.  
“Hey,” he said. “We ate, and we're watching t.v. How's it going? Really? I know it's frustrating, it'll get caught eventually. He is? That sounds good. All right. Oh, you want to talk to her?” He handed me the phone.

“Hi, Charlie,” Daddy said. 

“When are you coming back??” I asked him.

“We'll be leaving shortly. Are you being good?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Grandpa John got me a chocolate shake.”

“That was nice of him. I want you to get into your pajamas, and go to bed at 8.”

“Okay, Daddy.” I agreed. “Will you be back by then?”

“Should be, but if not, I'll come tuck you in when we get back. All right?”

“Yeah.” I handed the phone back to Grandpa John.

“I'll see you soon. Yeah, bye.” he hung up. “I'm going to get this cleaned up.” he said, and he put all of the dishes back on the tray, and then stood up. He walked over to the door.

“Where are you going?” I asked worriedly.

“I'm leaving the tray outside on the floor, that's what you do in hotels,” he told me.

“It is?”

“Yep.” he opened the door and stepped outside, and I felt myself get tense. I sighed with relief when he came back into the room. 

“Why don't you get your pajamas on now,” he said. 

“Okay.” I stood up and went into the bedroom, then came back to the door. “Uh, I can't reach my suitcase.” I said. He came into the room, and unzipped it and opened the top. The bureaus were a little tall, and I couldn't see into my suitcase.

“What are we looking for?” he asked me. He pulled something out. “This?”

It was my pink Hello Kitty nightgown. It was a little too small for me, and short, but I didn't mind it.

“Yeah, that's okay.” I said, taking it from him. “Thanks.”

“You need help?” he asked.

“No, I can do it myself,” I told him. He left the room, and after I got changed I came back out to the other room and sat back down on the sofa. We found another cooking show and watched it together until we heard the locks on the door clicking. Uncle Bobby and Uncle Sam followed Daddy in.

I ran over to them as they came in, and threw my arms around Daddy. He gave me a loose hug, and let me go. He seemed distracted.

“Get your teeth brushed, and let's get you to bed.” he said. 

“I want to sit with you,” I complained. 

“Charlie, it's after 8. I want you to go to bed.”

I let him go. “O--kaaay,” I said, and I trudged into the bedroom again. 

“Uncle Sam, I need my toothbrush,” I called. 

“It's in the little black bag on the dresser,” he called back to me.

I walked over to the dresser and found it- it was a small rectangular canvas bag about the size of a shoebox. The dresser was too tall for me to look into the bag, so I took the bag off and walked over the the bed with it. I put it down and unzipped it. It was Uncle Sam's toiletries bag- there was an electric razor, his toothbrush, a comb, a hairbrush, a bottle of aftershave, deoderant-- I couldn't find my toothbrush at all. I tried to move stuff around in the bag and then saw the glint of my sparkly purple toothbrush at the very bottom.

I picked up the bag and turned it upside down, holding it open and shaking it so that everything would come out. Everything fell onto the bed with a clatter, and I started to sort through it all. I saw the tube of my toothpaste, and picked up what was on top of it, to move it-- it was a short knife in a leather case, with a brown and white handle.

“CHARLOTTE ANNE WINCHESTER, DROP IT!” Daddy bellowed, rushing over to me. He yanked the knife out of my hands and then sat down on the bed and yanked me down over his lap. He began to spank me, the swats falling hard and fast, and I couldn't breathe for a second because it took me by surprise, and it hurt so bad. I tried to pull away from him, and when that didn't work, I twisted my body and tried to push up in his lap which I realized was a mistake, because my nightgown got twisted up and moved above my waist.

“Daaaddyyyyy!” I wailed. “I wasn't playing with iiiiiitt!” I burst into tears, still struggling.

“What did I tell you, Charlotte Anne?” he yelled. “What! Did! I! Tell! You!” After each word he laid down a hard swat on my panty-clad bottom, which hurt worse than I could ever have imagined.

I wailed wordlessly and then tried to talk. “Duh-daddy I was tryin' to guh-get my tuh-toothbrush out! I- I couldn't fuh-find it! Pleeeeease!” I howled. 

His hand kept falling and I kicked my feet, and then I heard Uncle Sam say, “Dean, stop! I forgot that I had that knife in my bag!”

“I came in here and she was holding it!” Daddy snapped. 

“But look, she dumped everything out, and her toothbrush is at the very bottom, underneath everything.” 

Daddy stood me in front of him and held me by my upper arms. His face was red and angry. 

“Is that what happened? Or are you lying to cover up the fact that you were fooling with the knife?” he asked harshly, shaking me once.

“I-I wuh-was guh-gettin' my st- stuff, honest!” My chest was hitching so much I could barely get the words out. I was afraid he was going to start spanking me again. 

“Dean! Stand down!” Grandpa John said in a rough voice. He was standing at the door. “Take a walk and get ahold of yourself!” 

Daddy glared at him, and then let me go. He stood up and walked around me, walked past Grandpa John, and then I heard the door beep and then click.

I turned. “D-daddy--” I sobbed, taking a couple of steps towards the door. 

Uncle Sam leaned down and gathered me up in his arms. “I'm so sorry, honey,” he said gently. “This is all my fault, I forgot about that knife. I'm sorry, baby.” He rubbed my back, and I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his flannel, starting to cry all over again. 

Grandpa John came over to us. “Jesus, Sam! Did you forget all about weapons safety protocol?” he snapped. 

“Dad, it was a mistake! Like I said, I totally forgot it was in there!” Uncle Sam said.

I felt a hand on my back. “You gonna be okay, darlin'?” Grandpa John asked me gently.

“Wh- where's D-daddy?” I asked, my chest still hitching. 

“I'll go look for him. He needs a good talking-to anyway.” Grandpa John in a stern voice. He turned and walked out of the room. 

“Do- does Daddy hate me?” I asked Uncle Sam.

“No, he doesn't hate you, why would you think that?” Uncle Sam looked at me.

“He- he was so muh-mad,” I sobbed. “I'm a b-bad girl.”

“No, you're not,” Uncle Sam rubbed my back some more. “He was angry because he was scared you were going to hurt yourself. He doesn't hate you, I promise. And you're not bad, all right?” 

 

I couldn't stop crying, no matter how I tried. Tears just kept falling and falling. My chest kept hitching and then I would hiccup. Once I heard a loud sound in the hallway, of a door slamming, and I jumped in Uncle Sam's arms, and started to whimper and then sob again. He held me in his arms and paced the room, rubbing my back and the back of my head, and stopping to grab a tissue so I could wipe my face or blow my nose. Daddy didn't come back, and neither did Grandpa John. 

I heard Uncle Bobby's voice. “She awake?”

Uncle Sam shifted me in his arms and I looked up at him.

“Yeah, she is,” he told Uncle Bobby.

“I got a text from John. He and Dean are having a... talk, over a couple of beers.”

“Great...just great.” Uncle Sam sighed. “In the meantime, Charlie's over here, still upset. Can you let them know?”

“Will do.”

Uncle Sam walked over to my side of the room and tried to put me on the bed.  
“You should try to go to sleep now.”

I clung to him like a monkey. “Nooo,” I whined. “Pleeeease.”

He shifted me again, and his arm pressed against my bottom for a moment, and I winced. He looked down at me, raising his eyebrows.

“Charlie, I want to just take a peek--” he murmured, and I felt him move the hem of my nightgown up, and then pull the waistband of my underpants down slightly in the back. He made a little noise in the back of his throat, and adjusted my panties.

“Is your bottom still sore?” he asked. His mouth was a tight line.

I buried my face in his shoulder, embarrassed. “Yeah,” I whispered.

He carried me out to the living room area. “Bobby, can you get the kid's ibuprofen? It should be in the little med kit, in the duffle with the supplies. And get her some water?” 

“Sure,” Uncle Bobby said. In a couple of minutes, he was standing in front of us, handing me the little plastic medicine cup. I drank the liquid and gave him the cup back, and then he handed me a plastic cup of water. I drank some of it as Uncle Sam walked us back to the bedroom. 

He sat down on the bed, propped up against the headboard, and I laid on his chest, with my arms around his neck. He moved me so that I was fully on my tummy and there was no pressure on my sore bottom, and he held me with his arm around my waist.  
“Close your eyes, honey, it's late.” Uncle Sam told me quietly. 

I could hear the muffled sounds of the t.v. from the other room, and between that and Uncle Sam stroking my hair, I started to doze. 

I jumped awake with a startle when I heard the beeping of the door and the click of the locks. I sat up a little, and so did Uncle Sam, blinking sleepily. 

Daddy and Grandpa John came to the door of the bedroom and stood there for a moment. Then Daddy came over to me in a hurry. Uncle Sam sat up all the way and put me on his lap. 

“Oh, Charlie, I'm so, so sorry-” Daddy said, his voice full of regret. He reached for me, but I wrapped my arms around Uncle Sam and burst into tears again, burying my face in his flannel collar. Uncle Sam put his arm around me.

“I think you need to back off tonight until you get your head on straight,” Uncle Sam said, and his voice was low and hard. It gave me the shivers.

“Yeah, I've already been reamed by Dad, okay?” Daddy said bitterly. 

I felt his hand on my arm, and then Uncle Sam pulled me away. “No, Dean,” he said in a stern voice, “I mean it. Sit down and look at how you've been acting, and get your shit together, man. Her bottom was bright red. You were way outta line tonight. In fact, you've been outta line all fucking day.” 

Hearing Uncle Sam talk like that to Daddy, and say the Eff-word like that, gave me goosebumps, and I knew that Uncle Sam must be really angry with Daddy to say that, because he rarely cussed. It was scary when Uncle Sam yelled because his voice was so big, but I realized that it was even scarier when his voice was quiet like it was now.

“Sam--” Daddy said, and his voice broke. 

“Come on, Dean,” Grandpa John said. “Come sleep in the other room. You've got some more thinking to do.” 

Daddy sighed, but it wasn't angry sounding, it sounded sad. I heard their footsteps leave the room. 

Uncle Sam laid back down on the bed. He kept his arm around me and I nestled my face against his neck, laying halfway on top of his torso on my tummy. It took me a long time, but I managed to fall back to sleep.

 

I dreamed that I went into the house that Daddy and Uncle Sam had been in, where the witch was. There was a blonde lady and Mommy and Aunt Michelle sitting in the living room, having tea. Mommy looked at me and said, “I made a mistake, your father is an unsuitable guardian for you. You have to bring me back, so I can care for you.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“He's not equipped to be a father, he's a hunter and that's all he'll ever be. I'm the one who should be caring for you. Find a spell to bring me back.”

“But how?

The blond lady said, “You need to find a book called a grimmer. That's a special spell book that witches have. And all the supplies you need to do the spell should be in the back of that black car.” 

“But what if I can't find one? What do I do?”

“Keep looking, you will find one. You can find what you need if you look hard enough.”

“But Mommy, what if I can't?”

“You can do it, you're smart, you'll figure it out.” 

 

 

When I woke up there were tears on my face. I loved Daddy and Uncle Sam, but I still missed my Mommy a lot. And everything that had happened yesterday with Daddy had made me feel hurt and confused. When I thought about how he had spanked me, I felt especially hurt. My feelings felt all jumbled up in my tummy. 

 

 

I looked over and saw that I was alone in the bedroom. I could hear voices talking in the other room. I got up and walked over to the door- it was open a couple of inches, and I stood and listened. 

Grandpa John was saying, “-- noticed that a lot of her responses are similar to PTSD responses. She startles every time someone knocks on the door, when people come in she tenses up. She's fearful and cautious outside. Is she still having nightmares?”

“Not for a couple of days.” Daddy said.

“She got scared when a woman in a suit walked by, thought it was her Aunt.” Uncle Sam commented.

“This poor kid, she's been through so much in the past few days, and I didn't really understand what she had been through with her mother until recently. Charlie is one amazingly resilient little girl, Dean. I'd be really surprised if she didn't start falling apart and throwing tantrums and the like. I'd say she's almost earned the right to throw a couple,” Grandpa John said.

“Well, she throw tantrums when we draw lines,” Uncle Sam replied. “She had no rules, no boundaries and no consequences, and nobody calling her on any lies or anything. She needs a firm hand right now. You said to me once that rules make kids feel safe, didn't you?”

“You're right, I did.” 

“She hasn't grown up with that, she's had a whole lot of unsafe, from a pushover mother who was permissive to start with, and who then couldn't make or enforce any rules after she got sick. Imagine how she felt, not having any rules to push against. No wonder she throws such a fit with us- she's testing those boundaries to see if they're going to topple, and testing to see if we'll keep caring about her.”

“I agree with you for the most part,” Grandpa John said, “But I also see that some of her behavior is indicating that she's not able to hold on like she used to, that there are cracks appearing in the foundation. Just keep that in mind when you deal with her.”

“We'll have to figure out what is a response to what she's been through and what is her pushing the boundaries.” Uncle Sam said.

“That should be pretty easy actually,” Grandpa John said. “We just need to look at how she's acting and not respond with anger first. Dean.”

I heard Daddy sigh. “I know, I know!” he said defensively. “I'm not the only Winchester in this room who's guilty of 'spank first, ask questions later', ya know.”

“All right, point taken,” Grandpa John said with a chuckle. “Just try to be more aware of the fact that everything she's been through is impacting how she acts. And that she's having trauma responses to normal things.”

“What can we do, Dad?” Daddy asked.

“I don't know anything about PTSD in kids. She may need therapy if it gets much worse. Let's look it up online and see if we can find anything that we can do to help. It breaks my heart to see her reacting the way she does.” Grandpa John said.

I had no idea what they were talking about, or what 'PSDD' was or anything, and I didn't want to listen to them talking about rules for me anymore, 'cause rules are dumb and annoying. And I was hungry.

I opened the door, and walked out. Daddy and Uncle Sam were sitting at the table in the kitchen area and Grandpa John was leaning on the counter, holding a mug in his hand. I could smell coffee in the room. He saw me and said, “There she is!” and smiled at me.

Daddy and Uncle Sam turned their heads toward me and they both smiled too, except that Daddy's was sad. 

“Charlie, I need to talk to you,” Daddy said.

“I'm hungry,” I said. “Can we go get that continel breakfast you talked about? What is that anyways?”

Uncle Sam chuckled. “Continental. It's a light breakfast, usually a buffet that hotels have so that they don't have to offer a full meal and pay chefs to cook for everyone.” he explained.

“Thank you Mr. Dictionary,” Daddy said sarcastically.

Uncle Sam looked at his watch. “They offer it until 11:00, I think. We'd better hurry so we get down there before they close up.” 

“Go get dressed, Charlie, and we can go,” Daddy said. 

“I was gonna,” I said grumpily. “I'm not dumb ya know.” I turned and went back into the bedroom and found where someone had put my suitcase on the bureau. It was kind of tall and I had to stand on my tiptoes, and I couldn't reach the zipper.

“Charlie,” Daddy stood in the doorway. “Please don't start with the attitude.”

“I need help, I can't get my into my suitcase.” I said.

Daddy walked over to me and took the suitcase off of the bureau, and placed it on the bed. He leaned over and unzipped it, and then he looked at me.

“Are you not responding to me because you're mad at me?” he asked.

“I dunno,” I said, because I didn't.

“Well, the first thing I want to tell you is I'm sorry. I'm sorry for how I treated you yesterday, and I'm sorry I spanked you last night.” 

Tears came to my eyes, and I looked down at my feet. 

“I was in the wrong, okay? I understand if you're angry with me.” He reached over and touched my cheek gently. “We can talk more later. I'll let you get dressed.” 

He turned and walked out of the room. I found an outfit and got dressed quickly, putting my sandals on. 

I wasn't mad at Daddy. Well, maybe I was. But I was also sad and confused. I guess we'd figure everything out when we talked. I went back out to the living room, where they were standing up and getting their wallets and cell phones. 

Daddy glanced at me, and I saw that his eyes still looked sad. I didn't like that, or thinking that he was sad because of me. I ran over to him and threw my arms around his waist.

He bent down and picked me up, holding me tightly. “That's my girl,” he whispered. “Thank you.” He carried me to the elevator, and put me down when we got inside.  
I held his hand as we walked out to the restaurant. We went in and found a table near a window.

“You go ahead, and I'll wait here and hold the table,” Grandpa John said, and he snagged a newpaper off of the table next to him and sat down. 

 

There were a few people sitting at different tables, mostly grown-ups in business suits, reading newspapers or looking at laptops. 

We walked over to the far wall where the tables of food were, and got in line. Daddy handed me a plate. Uncle Sam was looking over people and craning his neck to see that they had. 

“It looks like they've got bagels, danish, toast, fruit, bacon, sausage, and I can't see what's in those containers.” 

“What are you in the mood for, Charlie?” Daddy asked. 

“Everything,” I said, and he and Uncle Sam laughed.

I put a bagel and strawberries and bacon and grapes on my plate. I was reaching to scoop some scrambled eggs out of a large rectangular metal tray, when a woman said, “Excuse me,” and stepped between me and Uncle Sam. Daddy had already moved away from me and was getting some coffee at a table that was a few feet away.

I looked up at the woman and gasped-- Aunt Michelle! She had on a blue business suit and the same hairstyle as when I met her at the memorial service.

I heard a loud clatter, and then someone was screaming, “NOOOOO!!”

All of a sudden, I realized it was me that was screaming. I could feel warmth on my arms and legs, and I looked down. I had dropped my plate, and it was in pieces on the floor in front of me, and I had spilled warm scrambled eggs on myself.

“What the--” the woman said angrily. She was glaring down at me. I saw that I had spilled eggs on her skirt and shoes, too. It wasn't Aunt Michelle.

All of a sudden Daddy and Uncle Sam were there.

“Charlie, it's all right,” Daddy said, squatting down in front of me. “Charlie!” he said, with a concerned look on his face, and he took my shoulder and turned me towards him.  
“Charlie, talk to me!” 

Tears were pouring down my face, and I opened my mouth to talk, but I screamed, “NOOOOO! HELP!” 

Daddy picked me up and stood up, putting me on his hip. “Sam, I'm going back to the room,” he said.

I heard Uncle Sam saying, “I'm so sorry, ma'am, can I pay for your dry cleaning?” 

I buried my face in Daddy's shirt and cried. I was shaking, and I didn't know why. 

“Sir?” I heard someone say. “Sir? Is the little girl all right?”

“She'll be fine, she had a bad experience recently and she gets upset sometimes,” I heard Grandpa John explaining. 

I felt us walking, and then I heard the chiming of the elevator door, and then more chimes, and the beep and click of the room door. 

Daddy sat down on the sofa with me in his lap and held me. I cried and shook and coughed and cried and shook.

“Charlie, what are we going to do about this?” Daddy asked softly, rubbing the back of my head. His phone rang, and he moved me off of his lap so he could get it out of his pocket. 

“-ean!” it was Uncle Bobby, and he was talking so loud I could hear him. “--don't have...ood connec...woods...” he said.

“You're breaking up, Bobby--” Daddy said in a loud voice.

“I'm here at the site!” Uncle Bobby said loudly. “They got it! The rang...ot the creat...and you ain't gonna believe this!” His voice was suddenly clear.

“What? “ Daddy said. “Did you say they got the creature?”

“YES!” Uncle Bobby shouted. “And y'all need to get over here!” 

There was loud static for a moment. “--ey don't kno...at to do...it's her...”

“What?” Daddy asked loudly.

“Dean, get your butt over here, pronto! The locals are freaking out-- it's her, Dean, the aunt! After they shot the creature, it changed! Into Charlie's aunt!”


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who has left comments and kudos! It means a lot to me!  
> **********

“We'll be there ASAP, I'll call you when we're on the road,” Daddy said into the phone. “Try and keep everyone calm.”

“Will do,” Uncle Bobby said. 

Daddy hung up the phone and looked at me.

I coulnd't believe what I had just heard. My head felt pressure in it, like there was something sitting on the top of my skull, and my stomach was in such a tight knot it was hurting.

“Charlie, I'm so sorry--” Daddy said.

“The-- the creature---it was her?” I interrupted him. “It was my aunt? She came to the campsite and- and-- she killed my mommy, she killed everyone there, and she coulda killed me too!” My breath was coming in shallow gasps.

I look up at Grandpa John, who was standing by the sofa. He looked worried. Then I looked back at Daddy. “Wait, does that mean--- I am-- am I gonna change into something too? Am I gonna turn into a creature THAT KILLS AND EATS PEOPLE?!” I screamed. I got up and scrambled backwards off of the sofa, away from Daddy. 

Grandpa John stepped towards me. “Let's not go there, darlin',” he said calmly. He reached out to me. “Let's--”

“DON'T TOUCH ME!” I screamed, backing away some more. My chest was starting to hitch, but the tears weren't coming.

The room door beeped and clicked, and Uncle Sam came in, carrying a styrofoam box. “They let me take some food from the buffet--” he said, and then he looked at all of us. “What's going on?” he asked uneasily.

“Nothing...” I said. “Except that I MIGHT TURN INTO A MONSTER AND KILL YOU!” I screamed, and then I ran blindly, tears now pouring down my face. In the bedroom I tripped over one of my shoes, hitting my head on the edge of the dresser, and fell flat on my face onto the floor. 

 

I tried to move, but I was being held against something solid. I was sitting up, my arms crossed in front of me like I was giving myself a tight hug. 

I turned my head. I was sitting on the floor, on Grandpa John's lap against his chest, and he was sitting propped up against the bed.

“Lemme go!” I said, squirming.

“Take another deep breath,” he said calmly. “Come on, I want to hear you take another deep breath for me.” 

“I am breathing!” I snapped. My face was stinging and my head was throbbing.

Uncle Sam came to the door, with a small plastic bag and a little cup of medicine. He walked over to us and leaned down, then looked at me. “Charlie?” he said softly. “You with us?”

“What d' you mean? Lemme go!” I said again.

“I will let you go, but you are not to run, and not to hit yourself any more. Is that clear?” Grandpa John asked sternly. He let my hands go and I sat forward.

“What do you mean, hit myself?” I asked, looking up at Uncle Sam.

“You fell and hit your head on the edge of the dresser, you've got a goose- egg,” he told me. “But you were hitting yourself in the face and calling yourself a monster when we came in, and you wouldn't stop.”

He handed me the bag, which had ice in it. “Hold this on your head.” he instructed.

I took the baggie and held it to my head, and winced as it touched the sore spot. Then he handed me the cup of medicine, and I drank it down and handed him back the cup.

Daddy came to the door. “How is she doing?” he asked. 

“Calm now,” Grandpa John said. He pulled on my arm. “Lean back and relax, you don't need to go anywhere,” he told me. I leaned back against his chest.

Uncle Sam looked at Daddy. Daddy said, “We've got to go to the other site and deal with things. I'm sorry...that's the way it has to be right now.” He looked at me and gave me a small smile.

“We'll be all right,” Grandpa John said. 

“We'll be back as soon as we can,” Uncle Sam said. They both left the room.

Grandpa John shifted and then picked me up and carried me over to the bed and sat down, holding me in his lap. “You're going to be okay, sweetheart,” he said quietly. 

Daddy and Uncle Sam came into the room, dressed in their suits. Uncle Sam came over and leaned down to kiss my head. “See you in a while.” he said. 

I grabbed ahold of his arms. “Don't leave!” I pleaded, looking up at him.

Daddy walked over next to him. “Charlie, we have to,” he said. “We have to get this thing with...your aunt settled.” 

“I don't want you to go!” I whined, letting go of Uncle Sam and getting up. I threw myself at Daddy, starting to cry. 

“Charlie...” Daddy sighed. “I know you're scared, but come on-”

“I want to go with you!”

Uncle Sam and Daddy looked at each other. 

“No,” Daddy shook his head, “Absolutely not. We won't be gone long, and the creature...it's not alive any more, remember? So there's no danger.” 

“We need to tie up loose ends.” Uncle Sam said. 

“What does that mean?”

“We need to find some information on your aunt, and get that case wrapped up,” Uncle Sam said.

“I still don't get it.” I looked at him and then at Daddy.

“You don't need to get it, Charlie,” Daddy said. “Don't worry about it. Let go, now, so we can go.”

“But Daddyyyy-” I whimpered. 

“Listen, Uncle Sam and I were talking, and we think that after we get this all squared away, we should go somewhere fun. How does that sound?”

“Like where?” I asked.

“I don't know, a zoo, or an amusement park- do you like to ride roller coasters?” 

“I dunno.” I said. 

“Well, you think about it, and let us know when we come back.” Daddy said. “Maybe you and Grandpa John can look online and see what kinds of places like that are around here.” 

“Okay,” I sniffled, and let go of him.

“Good girl. We'll be back soon.” Daddy kissed the top of my head. 

He looked at Grandpa John. “Keep an eye on her, make sure she doesn't have a concussion,” he told Grandpa John.

“I know the drill, Dean,” Grandpa John said.

Daddy leaned down and looked me in the eyes. “You're not a monster, Charlie,” he said. “I promise you. We'll figure everything out, all right? And it will be fine.” He kissed my cheek, and then stood up. “We'll call you and let you know what's happening,” he said. 

Grandpa John and I sat there quietly for a few minutes. “Did you lose conciousness when you fell?” he asked me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Did you faint? Was it like you fell asleep for a moment?”

“Uh, no, not really,” I said. 

“Are you dizzy at all?”

“Uh-uh.” 

“Here, turn around so I can look at you,” he told me. I got off of his lap, and turned to him. He took my face in his hands and tilted my head slightly. “Open your eyes for me,” he said. “I'm checking your pupils.”

“Why?” I asked.

“If you have a concussion, they look different.” he explained.

“What's that?”

“It's...a brain injury that can happen when you hit your head,” he looked back and forth at my eyes for a long moment. “I think you're fine, but I'm going to keep checking,” he said. “You let me know if you feel different, dizzy, or sleepy, or get a headache or anything at all, all right?”

“Okay.” I said.

“You never got to eat, are you hungry? Sam brought up some food from the buffet.”

“Yeah, I'm hungry.” I said. 

We got off of the bed and sat down at the table in the kitchen area. Grandpa John brought over the styrofoam box and opened it. There were two bagels, three danishes, a little container of cream cheese, and then a jumble of different pieces of different fruits.  
Grandpa John started the coffee maker, and then sat down next to me.

“I don't know if we have a knife for the cream cheese.” he said.

“That's okay,” I said, licking my finger. I had already used my finger to scoop some onto my bagel and spread it. 

He saw what I had done, and laughed. “Very resourceful,” he said. He picked up a danish and put it on the table in front of him, then got up to get some coffee. 

“I'll be right back, I'm going to get my laptop,” he said. 

I felt myself getting tense as he walked out of the room, and when he came back in, I breathed I shg of relief. 

He brought his laptop over and set it down on the table, then opened it and turned it on.   
“Have you been to an amusement park or anywhere like that before, Charlie?” he asked.

“No. Well, we went to a fair once when I was little, they had a merry-go-round and a baby roller coaster that I went on. It was okay. Mommy had a thing planned, we were gonna go to a big fancy place called a resort, once she was done with her treatments. But she, uh--” tears came to my eyes as I realized that her plans for us to go to the resort would never have happened even of she hadn't been killed at the camp site, because she had found out that she was going to die. “If she hadn't been-- if the creature hadn't gotten her she would've-- she was gonna die anyway!” I wailed, starting to cry. “Why didn't she tell me!” 

“She may not have known how to, Charlie.” Grandpa John said quietly. 

“Yeah, well, I'm mad at her for not telling me!” I said grumpily. I wiped my eyes and looked at him. “is it possible to be mad at someone who's dead?” 

He laughed. “Yes, it is. It's part of grieving.”

“What's grieving? Everyone keeps talking about it but I don't know what it is.”

“It's dealing with the fact that someone you love is gone. It takes a while to work through.” He looked at me. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.”I said.

“No headache? Blurry vision? Dizziness?” 

“Nope.”

“Good. Listen, there was a used bookstore I saw on the drive here, and I wanted to go look around. You like books, right?”

“Well, duh!” I said. “Like you even had to ask!” 

“All right, are your shoes on? We can get some lunch while we're out, too, if you want.” 

“Okay,” I agreed. I ate the last of my bagel and went to get my purse. When we left the room, I tried to be brave, but I couldn't help it, I got nervous. I grabbed for Grandpa John's hand as we walked to the elevator. 

He looked down at me. “It's all right,” he said quietly. “You're safe with me, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you.” 

Grandpa John had a pickup truck- I had never seen one that big before! It was so big it had a step for you to walk on to get up into the truck, but even with that, I couldn't manage to get in. Grandpa John chuckled and picked up me by the waist and put me in the seat. 

When he turned the engine on, the same classic rock station that Daddy had been listening to came on. I wrinkled my nose. “You like this classic rock too?”

He glanced at me. “It's the only good music out there,” he said. 

“That's what Daddy said,” I told him. “Bor-ing!” 

“What do you like to listen to?” he asked.

“Music you can dance to!” I said. 

We drove for about 15 minutes into the middle of the small town. He found a parking space on a side street, and then he had to pick me up and get me out of the truck. I took his hand again, feeling nervous about being out on the street. A car honked at another car as they drove by, and I jumped, startled. 

The book store looked small from the front, but when you went inside, you saw how big it actually was. The walls were lined almost up to the ceiling with bookshelves, and the place had that musty smell like someone's attic. There were long tables with stacks of books on them too. 

A short man with gray hair and small glasses came over to us. “Hi there, can I help you? Are you looking for something in particular?”

“Yes, I'm looking for the myths and legends,” Grandpa John said. He glanced down at me. 

The man looked at me. “You look like a young lady who loves to read. The children's section is right over there in the corner, we've got all the harry Potter books in right now.”

“I already read them all,” I told him.

“Well,” he blinked. “I'm sure you'll find something else you like, there's all kinds of books over there.”

I looked up at Grandpa John. “Sure,” he said, “Go on over.” 

I walked over to the area tht man had pointed to, and then Grandpa John began to talk to the man about something. 

I glanced at the titles of the books on the shelves and nothing really caught my eye. I turned my head-- there was an open area that looked like it led to more books. I turned back, and Grandpa John and the man were across the store, heads down looking at a book together. 

I walked through the doorway into the other section. It was a hallway that had all kinds of nooks and crannies, all stuffed with all kinds of books. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to them being put there. 

Then I got an idea. I wondered if there would be any kind of spellbooks here or a grimmer, like the lady had said in my dream. I started to look through all the books. There was one nook that had some books about witches and stuff, but they were history books with lots of words. I walked into the next nook and looked around, then a small book caught my eye. It was on the edge of a shelf, and it was an old-looking book with a worn cloth cover. It was the same size as my hand, and on the front it said, “Spells and Philtres for Love and Loss”.

I opened the book and glanced through it- it was a spell book! It didn't seem to have anything about bringing someone back from the dead at first glance, but maybe I could get some ideas from it. 

“Charlie?” I heard Grandpa John call my name. “Charlie!” 

I glanced over my shoulder and made a decision. If I asked, he probably wouldn't buy the book for me, and then he'd ask what I was trying to do. I had to do this on my own.   
I unzipped my purse, and shoved the little book down to the bottom of it, then closed it.

“There you are!” 

I turned to see him standing at the end of the hallway. I looked up at him- was he angry with me? Was he going to yell at me? Had he seen me put the book in my purse?

“You need to tell me if you're going to leave the area,” he said in a stern voice as I walked towards him. “Let me know, in the future. I need to know where you are.” 

“Yes, Grandpa John,” I said meekly. “I'm sorry.” 

“I'm ready to go. Did you see anything you liked?” he asked.

I followed him over to the counter. “Uh-uh,” I said. 

“Look what I found for you,” he said, smiling at me. He picked up a book off the counter. It was a large book, and it said, “Magic in the Movies of Harry Potter” on the front.

“It's a book about how they do all the special effects, and it has a lot of photos,” he told me. 

“That's neat,” I said.

He put it on the counter and the man picked it up and scanned it. There was a small stack of books there. 

I looked at him. “You're buying it?”

He looked down at me and grinned. “Yes,” he said, ruffling my hair. 

I hugged him around the waist. “Thanks, Grandpa John!” 

He chuckled and patted my back.

I felt guilty then, that I had taken the little book, and I almost said something. But I didn't.

When we got into the car, I turned to him. “Uh, am I in trouble?” I asked.

He looked at me, frowning a little bit. “Why would you be in trouble?”

“Cause I broke a rule-- I'm s'posed to stay with a grown-up and not wander off.”

“Oh, I see. No, you're not in trouble.” He started the truck's engine.

“But- are you gonna tell Daddy?”

He glanced at me and then looked over his shoulder to merge into traffic. “I don't really think we have to.” 

“But then, if I don't, it's a lie of 'mission!” I said. 

“A what?”

“A lie of 'mission, where you do something bad and don't say anything about it.” 

“Oh, I see.” He got a small smile on his face, and glanced at me again. “Boy, your Dad's got some rules for you, huh? I'll tell him what happened, but you won't be in trouble, all right? You were with me, and I trust you. You didn't leave the store, and I think I know what I'm doing here. All right?” 

We went to a diner in town for lunch, it was an old-fashioned one that Grandpa John said was made to look like the diners from the 1950s. There were posters of old fashioned cars and black and white pictures of old movie stars all over the wall, and lots of bright neon signs. They had a thing where you could make your own flavored soda, so I asked if I could get a chocolate one. 

While we were waiting for the food, his phone rang. He answered, and listened for a couple of minutes. “That's good...” he said. “Oh, you did? That will be helpful. Okay. We're having lunch, but we'll go back to the room after and start packing. All right, talk to you soon.”

He hung up and looked at me. “That was your Dad. They've finished up the case, and are on their way back. We're going to pack up and go to Bobby's for a while.” 

“How come?” I asked. 

“Well...he's got a lot of books about a lot of different things, and he might be able to find out something about...your aunt.” He looked uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?” I stared at him. A thought dawned on me. “You mean you need to find out if-- if it's going to happen to me!” Tears came to my eyes. 

He leaned over the table. “Charlie, no. It's not going to happen to you, all right? This is-- this is something new, and different, and we've never seen it before. So we need to figure things out.” 

I wiped my eyes. “What's new and different?”

“Two people in a family...having completely different abilities.” 

He stopped talking as the waitress came to the table with our plates of food. 

While we ate, he asked me about things I liked, and what I had studied in school, and what I liked to do for fun. It was kind of boring to talk about, but I guessed that he was trying to get to know me.

I was curled up on the sofa reading the Harry Potter book when the door beeped and clicked, and then Daddy nd Uncle Sam walked in. I got up and ran over to them, throwing my arms around Daddy. He leaned down and hugged me. 

“Are you all packed?” he asked me. 

“Yeah,” I told him. “Is everything all taken care of?” I looked up at him.

“Yes...but you don't need to worry about that.” He smoothed his hand over my hair. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness, or headache or anything?”

“Uh-uh.” I shook my head.

He sat down on the sofa and pulled me onto his lap, and then hugged me again. “Charlie, I wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry about yesterday. I was—I was tense, and feeling a lot of pressure about things, and...I took it out on you. Trying to find a balance between hunting and having a kid is...hard.”

“I'm sorry,” I said, feeling guilty. “If I wasn't here, then you wouldn't have to deal with that and you could just be a hunter.” I started to cry.

Daddy sighed. “No, don't say that, that's not what I meant...shit,” he muttered to himself. He pulled back and looked me in the eyes. “Charlie, I'm very glad that I met you and that you're in my life now, and I wouldn't give that up for the world. This is just an adjusment for all of us, and that's normal. And we've got family to help us out, too.” He smiled at me. “I'm so happy that you're my daughter.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

“Even if I turn into-”

“Hush,” he said, a little sternly. “That's not going to happen, and we're looking into your aunt's life. I don't want you worrying about that. All right?”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. 

Uncle Sam came into the room, wearing his regular clothes- jeans and a blue t-shirt with a blue and green plaid flannel shirt over it.

“You should get changed and packed, Dean, so we can go.” 

Daddy put me on the sofa. “Okay, I'll be glad to get out of this monkey suit.” He stood up and started to take off the tie. 

“Where are we going?” I asked. 

“We're going to Bobby's,” Uncle Sam told me. “We were able to get all of your aunt's things, and she had a lot of paperwork that we need to go through.” 

“Oh,” I said. “What about those witches?”

Daddy and Uncle Sam did there “talking without words” thing.

“That situation...took care of itself.” Uncle Sam said.

“What do you mean?” I asked. 

Daddy started to walk across the room. “Don't worry about-”

“Are the witches gone?” I asked, looking at Uncle Sam and then Daddy. “Did you get rid of them?”

“Charlie,” Uncle Sam said sternly. “You don't need to know about it, so stop asking.”   
“But-” 

Daddy stopped at the door to the bedroom and turned to me. “Did you hear Uncle Sam? Drop it.” He gave me a look.

“Yes, Daddy,” I said, and I felt myself blushing. I don't know why, I was still very interested in witches.

Daddy went into the bedroom, and came back out a couple of minutes later carrying our bags. He set them by the front door, and then went into the other room where Grandpa John was getting packed up. I could hear them talking.

“Are all your toys packed?” Uncle Sam asked me. “And your 3DS and everything?”

“Yep,” I told him. 

Daddy came into the room just then, talking an a loud, annoyed voice. “-can't do that, Dad. I put the rules in place with her for a reason!”

“I know all about giving kids rules, all right?” Grandpa John said. “You don't have to lecture me about it. I did what I thought was right at the time, she didn't need to be called onto the carpet for it.”

“Yes, but she did break a rule!” Daddy stopped walking and looked at Grandpa John.

“She didn't do it on purpose. She knows what the rules are, and she asked me about it in the truck. You've got her on a short leash, Dean.”

“Well it's my decision!” Daddy snapped angrily. “She's my kid, and I don't need you undermining me!” 

“It's not undermining you. I knew where she was, I saw her leave the area out of the corner of my eye, she didn't leave the building. It was fine.”

Daddy sighed. “If this comes back to bite me in the ass, or you, or any of us, I'm holding you accountable, and you won't have one word to say about my rules for her. You got that?”

“Excuse me?” Grandpa John growled in a low voice. “Did you forget who you're talking to? You may be Charlie's father, but you're still my son, and you will talk to me with respect!”

Daddy's face got red, and he looked down at the floor for a moment. “Fine,” he said in a clipped voice. 

“Fine,” Grandpa John said in the same voice. He went back into his room, and then came back with his duffles slung over his shoulders. 

“We ready to go?” Daddy asked. 

“What's going on, Dean?” Uncle Sam asked quietly, and Daddy shook his head. 

I took Daddy's hand in the hallway. When we got to the car, I didn't go over to the door and stand there like usual, I walked around to the back with them and stood there, craning my neck to see into the trunk. The false top was down and they put their duffles and bags onto it.

“Charlie, what are you doing? Nothing much to see in there,” Daddy said, closing the trunk. “Come on, let's get started.”

The drive to Uncle Bobby's was long. We stopped at a drive-thru to get dinner, and Daddy got a blanket and pillow for me from the trunk, so I could sleep in the back seat.

I woke up in the middle of the night, when someone was carrying me up some stairs. 

“Where are we?” I asked, trying to sit up as Daddy laid me onto a bed. 

“Shh, we're at Uncle Bobby's house,” he said quietly. He leaned over and took my sandals off. “Lay down and go back to sleep. It's the middle of the night. I'm right down the hall, okay?”

I laid down and he pulled a quilt up over my shoulders. I rolled over and closed my eyes, and fell back to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Uncle Bobby's house was full of stuff. You could tell that it had been a nice house before, there was lots of old-fashioned looking furniture all over the place. But now it seemed like almost every flat surface was piled with books, papers, folders, and different things like chunks of uncut gemstones, bowls of dried flowers and herbs, weird little carved boxes made of wood and stone, and even odd things like pieces of bones. 

We sat in the kitchen at his big wooden table while he made pancakes for everyone. There were plates of sausage and scrambled eggs already out, and everyone had eaten some. I was waiting anxiously for the pancakes, because they're my favorite.

Daddy sipped his coffee. “Did you sleep okay?” he asked me.

I shrugged. “Yeah,” I said. I had woken up in a small room- there was a twin bed, a small bedside table, a low dresser, and tiny rickety shelf, and that was all that fit in there. The bed had soft flannel sheets and a cozy, well-worn quilt on it, and it was comfortable. When I had left the room, I had heard voices drifting up the stairs, and I had gone down to find everyone else already awake and drinking coffee.

Uncle Bobby brought over a couple of pancakes, balancing them on the spatula.   
“For the lil' one, since I know she likes 'em so much,” he said, placing them on my plate.

“Thanks!” I smiled up at him. Daddy put the small bottle of maple syrup next to my plate. I cut up the pancakes and poured syrup on them, and started eating. 

“So what's the plan for today?” Uncle Sam asked.

“I think we need to go through everything that you got, and try to categorize it. You said she'd been doing genealogy?” Grandpa John asked, sipping his coffee.

“Yeah, that's what it looked like,” Daddy replied. “She had a lot of papers about different family lines and stuff like that.”

“I'll check and see if I can figure out if she did anything online,” Uncle Sam chimed in. “There are a few genealogy websites that are really popular, maybe she had an account on one of them.”

“Hopefully I can find some contacts in her papers, to try and talk to some relatives about...things in the family.” Daddy said.

“Oh, I 'member something!” I said, and they all looked at me expectantly.

“Mommy said that a long time ago, her great gramma, or maybe her great-great gramma, had lived in this small town place, and she had been the one who helped babies get born.”

“You mean a doctor? That's unusual for back then,” Uncle Sam said.

“No, she wasn't a doctor, it was something different...a middlewife?” I asked, frowning.

“Midwife,” Grandpa John said. “They're women who assist in birth, very similar to doctors.” 

“Yeah, that's it,” I said. “But she always knew if the baby was gonna be a boy or girl and she was always right, and she could also tell if there was something wrong with the baby, or if there was going to be something bad happen during the birth. And this was before they had all those machines.” 

I saw them all look at each other, and it was like all of them were doing the “talking without words” thing! 

“That's interesting,” Daddy said. “I'm glad you remembered that. You let me know if you remember anything else about your family, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy,” I finished my pancakes. 

Uncle Bobby brought a plate over to the table that was stacked with pancakes. He stood next to the table and looked at me. 

“Some rules, lil' girl,” he said. “Absolutely no going into the salvage yard, it's too dangerous. No going into the basement, the garage, or the library.”

“The garage, Bobby?” Uncle Sam asked, looking up at him. “You always used to let us hang out in there with you.” 

“Well, it's got a lot more stuff in there since you all were her age. A little mite like her's liable to get lost amid all the car parts and junk.”

“No library? But I love books!” I protested.

“Kid, the books I got in my library have a lot of things in them that ain't suitable for little eyes. I'll see if I can find some that are okay for you. And I've got Sam and Dean's books from when they was kids.” 

I sighed and looked at my plate. “O--kaay. But it's not fair.”

Daddy gave me a look. “Hey,” he said sternly, “Watch your tone.”

“I'm preventing you from having nightmares, little girl,” Uncle Bobby said. “You can play in the back yard, there's a tire swing, but I need to check the ropes before ya get on. It's been a few years since anyone's used it and I need to make sure they're still sound.”

“And you can't just go outside,” Daddy said. “You ask if you can go out, you hear me?”

“Yes, Daddy.” I said. 

Uncle Bobby walked back over to the stove. He made a few more pancakes, then brought them over and sat down to eat.

“Are you finished?” Daddy asked me. “Why don't you go get dressed.”

I got off of my chair. “Okay,” I said, and started to walk away.

“Hold up there!” Uncle Bobby said. “Take your plate over to the sink and rinse it off, the rule is, you clean up after yourself around here.”

“Okay,” I said, feeling embarrassed, and I picked up my plate and fork. I walked them over to the sink, but the sink was too high for me- I could put my plate in the sink, but I couldn't reach the faucet. 

“I'll get your plate,” Uncle Sam called to me.

I turned around. “Thanks.” I said sheepishly. I went upstairs to the bedroom I was staying in and opened up my suitcase. I got out some clothes and got dressed, and then I remembered the little spell book I had taken from the store. I pulled it out of my purse and glanced through it, noticing words like “pennyroyal”, “rosemary”, and “betony”. I looked around the room, trying to figure out where to hide it. I settled for shoving it between the two mattresses, as far in as I could push my hand. Then I went back downstairs.

Everyone was in the library. I stood at the doorway and looked in.  
“What am I s'posed to do?” I complained. “I don't want to be all by myself in another room!”

Uncle Bobby was behind a huge old-looking wooden desk. “All right, kid, you can come in,” he said. “But no touchin' anything. Ya got me?”

“Okaaay.” I said. I walked over to Daddy, who was sitting at a table next to Uncle Sam. There were papers spread out all over. 

“I'll look and see if I can find those books for ya,” Uncle Bobby said, and he left the room. 

“What are you doing?” I asked Daddy, leaning on his arm.

“Looking at your aunt's papers,” he told me. “Do any of these names mean anything to you? Rita and Harley Stover, Max Carlo, Lynnette Andrews--”

“Is that Great Uncle Max?” I asked. “The one I- I told you about?” I blushed. I still felt bad that he had smacked me, even though I had been barely 4 years old at the time.

Daddy looked at the papers, “Uhh, let's see, Great Uncle is what--”

“The brother of your grandfather,” Uncle Sam said. 

“He used to sneak drinks out of a silver bottle,” I said, “but it was 'cause he was in a hole with foxes and there was lots of loud noises.”

“What do you mean?” Uncle Sam asked. “A foxhole?”

“That's what I said.” I told him. “And he wore a funny flat helmet.”

“Second World War?” Grandpa John asked.

Daddy looked at the paper again. 'Let's see, born in 1922...Yeah, could have been, he would have been the right age to enlist,” Daddy looked at me, and stroked the back of my head. “Good job, sweetheart,” he smiled at me. “Thank you for telling us about that.” 

Uncle Bobby came into the room with a red plastic milk crate and set it down. “These are the books that your Dad and Uncle Sam read when they were kids,” he said, breathing a little heavy. “I've got the comics in a different part of the garage I think, I'll look for 'em later.” 

I walked over and sat down next to the crate. “Thanks, Uncle Bobby!” I said. I bent to take the books out. They smelled a little mildewy and old but I didn't care. There was a series about a boy detective called Encyclopedia Brown, and a series about a pair of brothers names The Hardy Boys. They were always solving crimes with their friend Chet and driving around in his jalopy.

“What's a jalopy?” I asked.

“A junker car that needs to be fixed up.” Daddy said.

Uncle Sam looked around his laptop and saw what I was reading. “Chet and his jalopy, huh?” he asked me with a smile. 

I had read partway through one of the Hardy Boys books when I got bored. “Can I go look at the back yard?” I asked.

Daddy looked at Uncle Bobby.

“Yeah, all right.” Uncle Bobby said. “But remember, stay off the tire swing.”

“I will,” I said. 

There was an overgrown garden on the side of the house, with lots of big bushes with flowers, and a lot of them had died on the plants. I wondered who had planted it and why they didn't take care of it. Mommy had said that you needed to take care of a garden and water and weed it a lot and get rid of the dead stuff. 

There was another patch closer to the house with a bunch of green plants in it. There were some small stakes in the ground with labels, that said things like, “thyme” and “basil”. I guessed this was an herb garden. Did Uncle Bobby actually do cooking with fresh herbs? Mommy had always wanted an herb garden but we lived in an apartment. She got a couple of plants and re-potted them, but could never keep them alive. She said our apartment didn't get enough sun.

The door opened and Daddy came outside. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Just looking around,” I pointed to the herb garden, “There's lot of herbs there.” 

“Yep,” he said.

“Does Uncle Bobby do cooking?” I asked.

Daddy got an uneasy look on his face. “Sometimes,” he said. “I know his, uh, wife did a lot of the planting back here.” 

“He was married?” I looked up at Daddy.

“Yes, she...passed away.” Daddy said. He still looked uncomfortable.

“Oh.” 

“Are you getting hungry? We're going to have lunch soon.”

“Okay.” I agreed. “What's for lunch?”

“Well, unfortunately it's going to be canned soup and grilled cheese, Bobby needs to go to the store. Do you want to go grocery shopping later?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. I hadn't been grocery shopping in a long time, people had brought my mom and me groceries and then she had been able to sign up for a delivery service. 

The door opened and Uncle Bobby walked over to the tire swing that was on the tree. We walked over with him. He pushed on the swing, and then he put his leg up on it and leaned into it. There was a breaking sound and then part of one of the ropes snapped.  
“That's what I thought, dry rotted.” he said. “I'll see if I got some more rope in the garage and fix this up.”

“Let's go inside for lunch,” Daddy said. “And we need to put sunscreen on you if you're going to be outside any more, your face is getting a little red.”

 

After lunch Daddy and Uncle Sam said they would go to the store and buy food since we were going to be here for a while. I went with them. They had made lists of supplies, and each of them took a cart and went their own way to buy what was on their list. I went with Daddy.   
He let me pick out some fresh fruit and some snacks, and then when we went to the cereal aisle. I asked if I could pick out something. 

“We should get some oatmeal so that Uncle Sam doesn't fuss about you eating sugary cereal.” he said. “You know how he is.”

“But I like Coco Puffs and Frosted Flakes!” I complained.

“I know, but they're not the healthiest things out there.” he said. 

I followed him into the next aisle, and he said, “You know what, go back and get a box of Lucky Charms.”

I looked up at him. “Okay!” I ran back to the cereal aisle and found them near the other end, then I hurried back to the aisle we had just been in. I ran up to the cart that I thought was Daddy, but when I looked up, the man who turned his head wasn't Daddy! I stared at him, blushing, and noticed that he was wearing a tan jacket and not an olive green one like Daddy had been. I turned around.

“Daddy?” I called. I ran back to the cereal aisle in case he had gone back to look for me. He wasn't there either. 

“Daddy!” I called, getting a little nervous. I ran around the end to the next aisle, and ran into an old lady's cart.

“S-sorry,” I mumbled, scooting around her. 

The aisle had several people with carts in it and I saw an olive green jacket up ahead. I moved between the carts, feeling more nervous now. What if it wasn't him?

“Daddy!” I called again. 

The man turned as I ran up to him and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was Daddy!   
“You left the other aisle!” I said, and then I burst into tears. I tried to glare at him. “You scared me! I couldn't find you!” 

He leaned down and picked me up. “I'm sorry, sweetheart,” he said. “I realized I didn't need anything from that one, so I came to this one. I figured you'd just move to the next one too.” He kissed my forehead. “I'm sorry,” he repeated. “I didn't think you'd be scared.” 

“Well I was!” I said, feeling embarrassed now. I put my face on his chest and tried to stop crying. He tightened his arms around me. “Uncle Sam texted me, he's done and is at the front of the store waiting. You want to go sit with him while I finish up?”

“Okay,” I said, wiping my tears off of my face with my hands.

Daddy put me down and we walked to the front of the store where there were benches. 

Uncle Sam stood up as he came over, “What's wrong?” he asked.

“Charlie got a little lost,” Daddy told him.

“You left me!” I accused, looking up at Daddy.

“Yeah, that too,” Daddy said. He gave Uncle Sam the keys. “Want to load up your stuff and I'll be out in a few?” 

Uncle Sam stood up. “Sure. You want to come with me, Charlie?”

“Yeah,” I said, and I took his hand. 

We went to the car and Uncle Sam opened the back for me. I got in while he put the bags in the trunk. He turned on the radio so we could listen to music while we waited for Daddy. When Daddy came over to the car, he was on his cell phone. He stood outside of the car for a few minutes, talking. When he was done, he banged on the trunk of the Impala and Uncle Sam opened the trunk for him.

“What's up?” Uncle Sam asked as Daddy got in the car.

“Got a call from Rufus, he wanted some help. I told him I couldn't right now.”  
Daddy glanced back at me. “You buckled, Charlie?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. 

“I want to get this dealt with ASAP,” Daddy said in a low voice, jerking his head back at me. 

When we got back to Uncle Bobby's I went around to the trunk. “I can help carry,” I said, as they were unloading the bags. Uncle Sam gave me a couple of bags and I carried them into the kitchen. 

I went back out to the car as Uncle Sam was getting the last couple of bags out of the trunk. I saw a little lever on the inside of the trunk, and reached in to touch it. There was a click and a pop and the false bottom popped up.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Uncle Sam asked sternly. “Do not fool with anything in the trunk!” He handed me a bag, and then reached out and closed the false bottom, and then slammed the trunk closed. 

When we went inside, Daddy and Grandpa John were leaning over a laptop talking about something. 

“Come help me in the kitchen,” Uncle Bobby said to me. “Your Dad and Gramps need to talk about somethin' private.” 

Uncle Bobby showed me how to peel potatoes, and then I sat at the table, with a huge pile of potatoes. Uncle Bobby came over with a cutting board and a big knife.

“Can I cut them up too?” I asked him.

He looked uncomfortable. “Let's let your Dad decide that,” he said. He cut up the potatoes and took them over to the stove. 

“Once they're done in the library, go check out what else I found,” Uncle Bobby said to me. “Should keep ya busy for a while.”

When the door to the library opened, I went in, and there was a cardboard box with a bunch of X-Men comics and other superhero comic books too. There was also a large plastic bin of Legos.

“Cool!” I said happily. We hadn't been able to bring my Legos with us when we left the apartment. 

Daddy say down on the floor with me and started to look through the comic books. He and Uncle Sam reminisced about the different stories in different issues. We sat there reading until Uncle Bobby called us in to the kitchen for dinner. 

“Tomorrow, Grandpa John and I are leaving for a couple of days,” Daddy told me at the table. “We have some leads on finding out info on some of your relatives.”

“Can I come too?” I asked. 

“No, you'll stay here with Uncle Sam and Bobby.” Daddy said.

“But- you said we'd do something fun!” I told him.

“I know...this investigation needs to happen, though.” he said. “When I get back, we'll figure out something to do, okay?”

“O- kaay,” I said in a disappointed tone. He ruffled my hair.

 

The next morning, Uncle Sam was the only one in the kitchen. Daddy and Grandpa John had left early in the morning, and had said goodbye to me at bedtime the night before, but I still felt sad. I missed them both.

“Want to share my oatmeal?” Uncle Sam asked.

I wrinkled my nose. “Yuck! Bor--ing! Can I have pancakes?” 

He chuckled. “No, I'm not making pancakes, but I'll make you some eggs if you want. Just try some, I put fresh fruit in it.” He held a spoon out.

I tasted it. “It is good.” I said. “I'll have a little bit.”

Uncle Sam busied himself at the stove scrambling eggs and heating up a pan.   
“We need to decide what's going to happen in the fall,” he told me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“If we're going to settle somewhere and put you in school, or if I'm going to home school you.”

“Home school?” I looked at him.

“Yeah, we'd stay on the road and you'd come with us and I'd teach you every day.” He came over to the table. “I guess you really did like the oatmeal.” he grinned at me.

I had eaten almost the whole bowl. “Sorry,” I blushed, and he ruffled my hair.   
“It's all right, I can make more.” he said. 

“Have you an Daddy talked about school?” I asked. 

“Not really, he's...got a lot on his mind right now. I've been thinking about it though.” Uncle Sam went back to the stove and started to stir the eggs. 

“If I wasn't here you wouldn't have to think about it at all,” I mumbled. 

“What was that?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Nothing.” I said. I don't know why, I was starting to feel guilty that Daddy was having to spend so much time on me and figuring out what was going on with my family. Maybe it would be better if I wasn't here, and he could go back to doing what he had done before I came along.


	19. Chapter 19

“How's it going?” Daddy asked me on the phone. “What did you do today?”

“I read lots of X-Men,”I said, and he laughed. “Uncle Sam said he was gonna look for the cartoons online so I could watch some.”

“That's nice of him,” Daddy said. “What else did you do?”

“Uncle Bobby found a stool in the kitchen, so I have to stand on it and wash my dishes,” I said sourly. Uncle Bobby was insistent that everyone clean up after themselves, even though there was his clutter all over everywhere!

Daddy laughed again. “Well, you have to do what Uncle Bobby says, it's his house.”

“I know, Daddy, “ I said. 

“I hope you're not giving him attitude,” he said sternly.

“I'm not!” I paused. “When are you coming back?”

“I'm...not sure yet. We still have some traveling to do yet.”

“But Dad, I miss you!”

“I miss you too, Charlie. Let me talk to Uncle Sam now.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he told me. I walked over and handed the phone to Uncle Sam. He talked for another couple of minutes and then ended the call.

 

“Listen, before you go up to bed, you need to clean those Legos up,” Uncle Bobby said.

“But I have them arranged a certain way,” I told him.

“They're all over the floor, kid, and someone's gonna step on them. Get 'em up.” 

“That's not fair!” I complained. “You have stuff all over the place, and you're complaining about a couple of Legos?”

“Charlotte Anne!” Uncle Sam said angrily. “That was very rude!” He got up and came over to me. “Come on,” he beckoned me.

I looked up at him. “What?” I didn't want to get up-- what if he was going to swat me?

“You're going to sit in time out.” 

“I don't want to!” I whined.

“Well you should have thought of that before you decided to smart mouth your Uncle.” Uncle Sam snapped his fingers at me. “Come on, move.” 

I stood up, and he led me through the kitchen, over to the stairs and pointed.  
“Sit on the step. I'll come get you when you're done, and then you can apologize.”

“But-” 

He leaned down and looked at me. “Do not argue with me any more.” he said tightly. 

I dropped my eyes; I couldn't look at his intense gaze any longer. “Yes, Uncle Sam,” I said. I sat down on the step and he walked away. This was dumb, and not fair! I felt angry that I had to sit here. I crossed my arms and huffed.

After what seemed like hours, Uncle Sam came to get me. He squatted down in front of me. “You need to listen to Bobby and do what he says,” he told me. “We're in his house, and you have to follow his rules.”

“I know.” I said with annoyance. 

Uncle Sam took my chin in his hand and made me look at him. “All right, I don't know what's gotten into you, but it stops now. No more sass out of you, or there's going to be another consequence, and you'll like it even less than time out. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Uncle Sam.” I said, and he let go of my chin. 

“Come on, come and apologize.”

I followed him into the library over to Uncle Bobby.

“Sorry I was sassy before,” I said, staring at the carpet. “I'll clean my stuff up.” 

“If ya want to build somethin' and keep it out, you can do it on the dining room table.” he said. “Lemme just clear a spot for ya.” 

“After you clean up, it's time to get ready for bed.” Uncle Sam told me.

“I can't stay up?” I complained. 

“No, you still need to stay on a schedule, and you get cranky if you don't get enough sleep.” 

“I do not!” I protested angrily.

“Charlie.” Uncle Sam leaned down and looked at me. “What did I say before?”

“I wasn't sassing you!” I protested again.

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows. “I was going to let you watch one episode of the X-men, before bed, but I think you need to go straight to bed tonight.” 

“Not fair!” 

“Clean up the Legos and then get ready for bed.” he told me. I stomped over to the bin and threw everything in with a loud clatter, then stomped out of the room.

“She's a spunky lil' thing, ain't she?” I heard Uncle Bobby say as I started up the stairs.

“That's one word for it,” Uncle Sam replied. 

 

Uncle Sam sat on my bed, facing me. “I don't know what's going on with you, young lady, but it's going to stop,” Uncle Sam said. “Just because your dad's not here, doesn't mean that you don't have to behave. The attitude and the sass need to go.” He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear. “What's going on? You aren't usually like this.”

“I dunno,” I said grumpily. 

“Well, if something's bothering you, I want you to talk to me instead of acting out. All right?”

“Okay Uncle Sam.” I said. 

“I don't want to spank you, but if things keep going to way they are, that's where it's going to end up. And I don't think you want that either, do you?”

“No.” I said, looking down at the quilt. 

“Tomorrow is a new day, with new chances. Let's make it a good day, okay?”

“Okay.” I agreed. I was going to try, really try, to behave and not be sassy. 

Uncle Sam leaned over and hugged me, then he kissed the top of my head. “Get some rest, honey.” 

I laid down and he pulled the covers up. He closed the door part way when he left the room.

 

 

I could hear growling. It sounded like it was coming from outside the tent, but it was coming from inside...it was coming from me!   
Mommy turned toward me, and then said, “Lottie!” in a shocked voice. I jumped on her and began to bite her, chewing and ripping at her body, feeling the skin and flesh between my teeth and seeing the red blood spurt everywhere...the tent flap opened and Daddy came in.  
“Sam, I found her!” he called over his shoulder, and then I jumped on him too, and began to bite and tear at him. Then there was screaming...

...and I woke up with the screaming coming out of my own mouth. 

“Charlie! Wake up!” Someone called urgently. “Charlie!”

I opened my eyes, and Uncle Sam was leaning over me. He reached out to me and I batted his hands away and tried to crawl under the covers. 

“Nooo!” I howled. “I—I became a wolf creature and I—I chewed up and ate Mommy, and then, and then, I ate Daddy too!” 

“You were dreaming, Charlie.” Uncle Sam said.

I felt the bed give, and then a hand on my shoulder. “You were having a nightmare.” 

“But it's gonna come true, I just know it!” I wailed.

“No, it's not,” he said. “Take a deep breath, so you can get calm, come on.”

I felt him rubbing my back, and I tried to breathe slower, and I did stop crying. I started to doze feeling Uncle Sam's hand on my back. 

 

 

I woke up early, and went downstairs into the library. Of course, I couldn't help myself. I stood before the shelves, my head tilted, reading the titles on the spines of the books.

I wasn't looking for anything in particular, although in the back of my mind was that word from my dream, the special witch's book called a 'grimmer'.

Japanese Ghosts from the Edo Period... The Beast of Gevaudan... Beyond the Banshee: Mythological Creatures in Irish Folklore... Buckland Complete Book of Witchcraft...

“What are you doin', kid?” Uncle Bobby's voice was rough. 

I turned, flinching a little. He was standing in the doorway, and he advanced into the room quickly and came over to me. 

“You better not be lookin' at any 'o these.” he gestured to the shelves. 

I looked down at the rug. “I was just looking at the titles! I like to look at books!” I said defensively. 

“That's ain't gonna cut it, kid.” he said in a harsh voice. “ 'Cause next thing you know you're gonna decide to pull one off the shelf and start pagin' through it, and then you'll have nightmares. And I ain't gonna have it,” he leaned down to me. “I catch you lookin' again, and you're gonna be doing some chores for me. Ya like sweepin' and moppin' floors?” 

“No.” I said stubbornly.

He straightened up. “Well, then, you best do what I tell ya.” 

“What's up?” Uncle Sam stood in the doorway. 

“This one's lookin' at books after she's been told not to.” Uncle Bobby said to him.

Uncle Sam came into the room, sighing, and gave me a look. “Really, Charlie? You're going to start the day with this?”

“I wasn't doing anything!” I burst out. “I was just looking, gosh!” 

“Well see to it that that's all ya do, kid,” Uncle Bobby said, and he left the room in a huff.

Uncle Sam came over and sat down in a chair. “Come here,” he said sternly. I walked cautiously over to him, and he took my arm and pulled me so I was right in front of him. “Today is a new day, right?” he asked gently. “Remember what I said last night? I want you to make good choices today, Charlie, and not get yourself in trouble.” 

“I won't,” I grumped. He sat back and crossed his arms, giving me another look.   
“I mean, I won't, Uncle Sam,” I made my voice sound more reasonable. 

He put his hand up and cupped my cheek. “I hope not, honey. Let's get some breakfast, all right?” 

I sat quietly at the breakfast table. Uncle Bobby looked tired, and Uncle Sam seemed distracted. 

I finished my cereal, and slid off of my chair. “Can I go outside to the tire swing?” I asked.

“Take your dishes to the sink and rinse 'em off like you're supposed to,” Uncle Bobby said.

“I was gonna!” I snapped, frowning. I grabbed my bowl and spoon and stalked over to the sink, and climbed up on the stool.

All of sudden there was someone right behind me. I looked up, tilting my head back, and Uncle Sam was looking down at me with an angry look on his face. 

“No more, little girl,” he said sternly. “One more time with the attitude, and there will be a consequence. Is that clear?”

He put his hands on either side of me, on the edge of the sink. “Or should I just give you a spanking now to get it over with? Will that correct your attitude?”

I gulped. “No, Uncle Sam, I won't sass any more.” I said quickly. 

He stayed that way, looking down at me for a long moment. “See to it that you don't,” he said in that same stern voice. Then he walked away.

I finished cleaning my dishes and walked over to Uncle Bobby. “Sorry for the attitude and sass,” I muttered. 

“Go on outside, you need some fresh air and sunshine.” he said.

I walked over to the tire swing and sat on it, swinging for a long time. The creaking of the ropes and the warm sun made me feel a little tired. I closed my eyes and pushed the swing slowly with my foot. 

 

My aunt was there with my mommy, but I wasn't scared of her.   
”You don't belong with them,” Mommy told me, “They're too busy with their own lives to deal with you. You're a burden.”  
“Why did you leave me, Mommy?” I asked her. “Why?”   
She wouldn't answer me, just turned and started to walk away. I followed her, trying to catch up, but I couldn't, and I just got hotter and hotter.

 

“Charlie!” I heard Uncle Sam calling.

I opened my eyes. I was laying back in the tire swing, with my butt drooping down through the middle, and it was in the sunlight. My face felt hot. My whole body felt hot.

Uncle Sam came walked over to me. “Did you fall asleep in the swing?” he asked. “Oh geez, you must have been in the sun, you got a little sun-burnt. Come on inside and I'll get the aloe.” 

I stood in the kitchen while Uncle Sam spread the aloe lotion on my face and arms. I wasn't too red, it only hurt a little bit.

“No more sun for you today, Charlie,” he told me. “If you want to go out again you should wait until the sun is lower.”

“Okay,” I said. “Can I watch more X-Men?” I asked.

“All right,” he agreed. “For a while. I've got to do some work on my lap top later though.” 

“Uncle Sam, what's a burden?” I asked.

“A heavy load, or an obligation.” he said.

“What's a obligation?” I asked.

“Something that someone has to do. Why?”

I shrugged. “It was in one of the comics,” I lied. 

I wondered if I really was a burden to my Dad and Uncle Sam. 

 

Uncle Sam set me up in the living room with his laptop. He set it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

“Uncle Bobby and I are going to be in the library, doing some research,” he told me.  
“Okay,” I said.

“We'll have lunch soon.”

Each episode of the X-Men show was about 25 minutes long. I waited to see if Uncle Sam would come out to me and start the next one, but he didn't. I walked to the door of the library- they were both leaning over the desk, looking at a couple of big old heavy books and talking in low voices.

“When's lunch?” I asked.

“Oh- in a little while,” Uncle Sam said distractedly.

A little while came and went. I figured out that if I clicked on the enter button, I could get to the next episode. I watched two more episodes, and then it was the end of the season. A different screen popped up- it said, “Click here for the next exciting season of The Uncanny X-Men,” and then there was another square that said, “Click here to play some awesome games!” 

I sat forward, excited. I had never played an X-Men game. I clicked on the square and it took me to a different screen, with different games for Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, and Cyclops. 

I was playing a game where you could use Storm's weather powers to fight against the bad guys and do things like blow bombs out of the sky, when all of a sudden, the laptop closed, and I was looking up at a Very Angry Uncle Sam.

“Go to your room,” he ground out. “NOW.” 

A muscle jumped in his jaw.

I got up quickly, and I ran. 

 

The bedroom door opened after a quick knock, and Uncle Sam came into the room. 

He walked over and leaned on the dresser, crossing his arms. He just stood there and looked at me. 

Finally I couldn't stand it any more. “What?” I asked.

“I just can't figure you out,” he said. “You keep pushing and pushing, and I've kept giving you chances, but it seems like this is where you want it to end up, so I guess this is what it'll have to be.”

“What?” I asked again. “What do you mean?”

“With you getting a spanking.”

“Noooo!” I whined, even though I knew I was in trouble. I don't know what was wrong with me, I couldn't seem to stop sassing or misbehaving. 

“What are the rules for my laptop?” he asked in a hard voice. 

“Uh- I can't get on your laptop. And I have to ask you if I can play on it-” 

“And did you ask?” he interrupted.

I flushed. “No.”

“What's the next rule?”

“You'd check the website I wanted to be on.”

“And did you ask me to do that?” he asked.

“No, but- it was a link from the X-Men site!” I protested. 

“That doesn't matter,” he said. “What's the last rule?”

“Uh-” I frowned. “I thought that was it?”

“If you mess with my laptop you get a spanking from both me and your Dad.” Uncle Sam said. 

“But- but- I thought it was just that one time!” I protested.

“It's a tool that we both use,” Uncle Sam said. “I'll have to ask him what he wants to do about that.”

He came over and sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at me. “Come here,” he said.   
I squirmed, not able to move. 

“Charlotte Anne. Right here,” he pointed to the floor next to him. I scooted over to him and got off the bed, and then he lifted me up and put me over his lap. 

The first swat fell, and I yelped and burst into tears. “Uncle Sam, I'm sorry!” I wailed. 

“You've been saying that since yesterday, and I don't think it's true,” he said, as his hand fell over and over. “You need to change your attitude, and stop with the sassy mouth, so that you don't have to keep saying you're sorry!” 

He shifted me forward, and I wrapped my arm around his leg. The next set of spanks came down on the lower part of my butt and I knew I'd be feeling it when I sat down later. I wailed and kicked my feet. 

“I thought I could trust you with my laptop but I guess not,” he said as his hand continued to fall. “You still think the rules don't apply to you. And I think you need a reminder of what happens when you break the rules.” 

“I'm s--sorryyyyy!” I wailed again. “Pleeeease!” 

“You cannot just do what you want on my laptop. It is not a toy for you to play with.” 

“I wuh- won't!” I sobbed. 

He stopped spanking, and rested his hand on my lower back. “You're going to write the rules for the laptop down for me,” he told me. “Ten times each.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “I mean yes, Uncle Sam,” I'd agree to anything to get off of his lap. 

“And when your dad calls tonight, you're going to tell him about this, and we'll see what he says.” 

“Noooo,” I whined. “Do I have to? You already spanked me, can't that be enough?” 

I cried out as he swatted me a couple more times. “No, it can't,” he said in a hard voice. “I will not lie to your dad or with-hold things from him and you'd better not either. I should give you another spanking for thinking of not telling him.”

“Nooooo I'm sorrryyyyyy!” I howled. “Owww,” I whined as he spanked me again.

“Now, are you done with all the sassing and attitude?” he asked. “Because I'm tired of it, and you're going to end up right back in this position if there's any more, is that clear?”

“Yes Uncle Sam,” I said quickly. “I'm done.” 

“All right.” he said. He sat me up on his lap and I curled into his chest and sobbed. 

“I'm sorry,” I said again. “I don't know why my mouth won't stop being naughty.”

He chuckled. “You need to tell your mouth to stop, so that your butt doesn't get into any more trouble.” 

I slid my arms around him and he hugged me back. He sat and snuggled me on his lap for a while, rubbing my back and stroking my hair. “After we eat lunch, I want you to work on your lines,” he said.

“Lines?” I looked up at him.

“Yes, writing the rules for the laptop,” he told me. “That's what lines are.”

“Oh.” I said. It didn't sound very fun. 

 

An hour later, Uncle Sam stood next to me at the table. Lunch had been eaten and cleaned up and there was a paper and pencil in front of me.

“This is dumb.” I said stubbornly.

“Well, this is what you have to do, dumb or not.” Uncle Sam said. 

There was a piece of paper in front of me, divided into three sections. The first section had the sentence, 'I will not get on Uncle Sam's laptop at all.' and spaces for 10 sentences to be written out. The next section said, 'I have to ask Uncle Sam if I can use his laptop.' and space for another 10 sentences. The third section said 'Uncle Sam will have to check any website that I want to use.' with space for 10 more sentences.

“Go on, get started,” he said. 

I sighed and picked up the pencil. Then I looked up at him. 

“This isn't faaaaaaaiirrrrr,” I whined.

“It's plenty fair,” he tapped the paper. “Enough stalling.” 

I sighed, and frowned at the paper. 

He squatted next to me. “Charlotte Anne,” he said seriously. “You are going to write these lines. Not doing it is not an option. Your choices are, you do it, or you tell me no, and you do it anyway, with a sore butt. Which is it going to be?”

“Fine, I'll do it!” I snapped.

“Charlotte,” he warned. “What did I say about sass?”

I gulped. “Sorry,” I said quickly. 

“That's the last time I let it go. Get your lines done, and no more sassing,”   
he stood up. “I'll be in to check on you in a few minutes.” 

 

I started to write the first sentence.   
I will not get on Uncle Sam's laptop at all.   
I will not get on Uncle Sam's laptop at all.  
I will not get on--  
This was stupid! And annoying! And just not fair! Uncle Sam had already spanked me, why did I have to do this too? And I was gonna have to tell Daddy what I did and then possibly have a spanking from him hanging over my head too! 

I threw the pencil down and crossed my arms, huffing at the paper. My breath made the pencil roll away from me. I uncrossed my arms and sat forward, leaning my head down and blowing on the pencil and making it roll away from me again.Then I started doing it with the paper too, and making the paper drift across the table.

“Charlotte. Anne. Winchester.” Uncle Sam's voice was like stone. I turned my head- he was standing in the doorway, glaring at me. I had no idea how long he'd been watching, but judging by how mad he looked, he must have seen me goofing off. I ducked my head and my face felt hot as I blushed. I reached out to grab the pencil, and he came over to the table quickly. 

He took my arm and pulled me to a standing postion, and then spanked my butt three times. Then he put me back on the chair and pointed at the table. “Lines. Now.” he said in that same stony voice.

“Ow,” I whispered, as my butt started to sting again.

“You have no one to blame but yourself, young lady.” he said. He left the room, and then he was back in a few moments, carrying his laptop. He set it on the table and sat down two seats away from me. Great, now he was going to be here watching me. 

I glanced up at him. He was watching me! 

I pulled the paper over and picked up the pencil. I sighed heavily and continued to write... Uncle Sam will have to check any website that I want to use.  
Uncle Sam will have to check any--

I put the pencil down and looked up at Uncle Sam.

“Can I be done?” I whined. “My hand hurts.” 

He leaned over and picked up the paper. 

“You've only just started on the third set,” he said. “Get it done.” 

“But that's a long sentence!” I complained.

“That's one of the rules,” he set the paper down and turned it so that it was in front of me. “Get it done,” he repeated. 

“But--” 

He leaned forward. “I don't want to hear anything from you about this,” he said in a hard voice. “This is part of the consequence of your actions. Now deal with it.” 

I huffed, and he said, “Charlotte, I'm warning you--” 

I looked at him. “I hafta go to the bathroom.” 

“Fine,” he sat back and looked at me. “I'll give you five minutes.” 

I dawdled in the bathroom, taking a long time to wash my hands and then looking around at stuff. A knock on the door startled me.

“It's been five minutes,” Uncle Sam said. “Let's go, young lady.” 

I opened the door and walked out, not looking at him. Then I sat down again and picked up the pencil, sighing. I opened my mouth to talk--

“Don't.” Uncle Sam said. “I don't want to hear it. Just write your lines.” 

I scowled at the paper, and started to write the next sentence, gritting my teeth. Fine, he wanted me to write? I pressed down hard on the pencil, making the words dark and heavy, and then the point broke. The wooden tip ripped the paper a little bit. 

Uncle Sam moved his laptop to the side and looked at me.“You do something like that again, and I'll make you start over. After I give you another spanking,” he said. He got up and left the room, then came back after a moment with a small pencil sharpener. He took the pencil from me and sharpened it, then he placed it on the table in front of me again. 

“Get to it,” he said. 

I picked it up again and looked at him. 

He said nothing, just raised his eyebrows. 

I sighed heavily and started to write again. My eyes filled with angry tears, and I wiped them away so they wouldn't fall on the paper. 

Finally, after what seemed like hours, I was done. I thought about throwing the pencil, but I didn't. I put it down on the table and said, “I'm done.” 

He leaned over and picked up the paper, and glanced over it, then looked at me.  
“Good job,” he said. “You can go play now, or read.” 

I got off of the chair and started to leave the room.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“I want to be alone!” I said, and I ran upstairs to my room. I closed the door and threw myself on the bed, where I cried for a couple of minutes. 

Then I sat up and dug the little spellbook out from between the mattresses. It was written in 1936, and it said it was “Written for the Young Lady Who Wishes to Catch Her Man”. I skimmed through it, and it was mostly little love potions and charms to make to “get a husband”. I wasn't interested in that, so I shoved the book back into it's hiding place. 

 

Someone was shaking my shoulder. 

“Charlie, it's time to eat dinner,” Uncle Sam said quietly. 

I opened my eyes and sat up, then I looked at him and burst into tears.

“What's wrong?” he asked, sitting down on the bed.

“I'm sorry I was bad!” I wailed, crawling onto his lap.

“Hey, shh, it's been dealt with already,” he said quietly. He put his arms around me and hugged me. “It's okay, honey.” 

He held me until I had calmed down. “Go wash your face and hands and come downstairs for dinner, all right?” he told me after I had stopped crying. 

I nodded and got off of his lap. 

Uncle Bobby had made hamburgers, and that made me miss Daddy. 

We were finishing up eating when Uncle Sam's phone rang, and after he talked for a couple of minutes, he handed me the phone.

“Hi sweetheart,” Daddy said.

“Hi Daddy,” I said. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” he said. “How did your day go?”

“It was, uh, well...I, uh, got in trouble.” I told him, feeling my face get hot.

“What happened?” he asked evenly.

“Well, Uncle Sam let me watch X-Men on his laptop, but he was busy, and after the episode I waited for him to start another one, but he didn't come in, so I figured out how to make the next one start. And I was waiting for lunch, but they were busy! And then I watched a couple more episodes and a thing popped up about playing games, and I-- I clicked on it to play a game.” I traced part of the pattern in the oriental rug with the toe of my shoe. “Uncle Sam spanked me,” I said quietly. “Are you gonna-- I mean, am I in trouble with you too?”

“Yes, Charlie.” Daddy said. His voice was that deeper tone he used when he was serious. “What's the rule?”

“If I mess with the laptop, you both spank me.” I said, feeling embarrassed. “But- Uncle Sam spanked me already and I had to write line too! I hadda write the rules for the laptop 10 times each and it made my hand hurt!” 

“The rule is the rule,” he said. “When I get back, you can expect a spanking from me. The laptop is not a toy for you to play on whenever you want to.” 

“Daddyyyyyy,” I whined. 

“Charlie, I don't want to hear it,” he said, and his voice was starting to sound angry now. “Uncle Sam told me you've been very mouthy too. If he has to spank you again for that, then you'll get another spanking from me as well. Just because I'm not there doesn't mean you can run around being sassy.”

“I know, Daddy.” 

“You need to behave yourself.” 

“Yes Daddy.” I said.

“I love you. Be good. Let me talk to Uncle Sam again.”

“I love you too, Daddy.” I told him.

I walked into the library and handed the phone to Uncle Sam again. He got up and left the room. I was sitting on the floor reading some of the X-Men comics again. 

In a few minutes, Uncle Sam came back into the room and sat down next to me.   
“Hey, Charlie,” he said, “I'm sorry I didn't come and turn on the next epsiodes of the show for you, and I'm sorry about letting lunch go. I got knee-deep in research and...I kinda forgot that there was a little person depending on me for things.”

I looked at him. He gave me a shame-faced smile. “I'm sorry,” he repeated. “You come to me and bug me if that happens again, all right? And you bug me until I pay attention.”

“Okay, Uncle Sam,” I said. 

One of Uncle Bobby's many phones rang, and he shooed us out of the library so he could talk privately. 

 

When I came into the library again to let them know I was ready for bed, they were talking. Uncle Bobby had a gun out and was taking it apart. “I'll leave early tomorrow.” he was saying. “You gonna hold down the fort here?”

“Yeah,” Uncle Sam said. “Tell him I'm sorry I can't help, but someone's got to be here with Charlie. Maybe next time. I might try to take her out somewhere tomorrow.” 

I stepped into the room. “You don't have to stay here with me!” I exclaimed. “I was by myself when my mom was sleeping for hours an' hours an' I took care of myself just fine! I'm not a little baby that needs to be watched all the time!” I turned and ran, and I found myself in the kitchen, fumbling with the doorknob. I yanked the door open and ran out into the yard, tears spilling down my face.

And then, of course, I felt Uncle Sam's big arms circling me and picking me up. He turned me and swung me up onto his hip.

He looked down at me and said, “Don't you ever run out of the house like that again, you hear me?” he gave me a little shake and I burst into tears.

“What's this about, Charlie?” he asked in a gentler voice. He walked over to the steps of the front porch and sat down with me on his lap. 

“You an' Daddy can't do what you're used to 'cause of me, you think you have to watch me, an' now Daddy can't do his regular hunting because he has to make sure his daughter isn't a freak who's gonna eat him!”

“Hey, whoa,” Uncle Sam said. “Why are you calling yourself a freak? You are not a freak or anything like that.”

“Why couldn't I have a cool power like Rogue or Wolverine?” I asked. “Then I could help you hunt!” 

“That's where this is coming from.” he said. He sighed. “Charlie, I think you need to take a break from the X-Men for now.”

“Noo!” I whined.

“Yes, I don't think it's good for you to be reading about them right now, with the way you're feeling.” 

“But- but--”

“No, Charlie.” he said, and his stern voice was back. “come on, let's go in, and you need to go to bed.” 

We walked inside, and Uncle Sam started to pick up the comics and put them back in the box.

“Put these away for now, Bobby,” Uncle Sam told him. 

Uncle Bobby looked at him for a moment. “All right,” he said, and he leaned down and picked up the box. I watched him walk out of the room with them, and then I turned and ran to my room, tears pouring down my face, and I slammed my door shut and locked it.


	20. Chapter 20

I had woken up in the morning, tucked under the covers. Someone must have unlocked the door and then come in and put me to bed. The door had been left open slightly. I had gotten out of bed and gone downstairs. 

Uncle Sam was at the kitchen table, his laptop open, drinking coffee. He set the mug down and looked at me. “Sit,” he said. 

I sat down next to him and looked at him, curious. He didn't seem angry, but I hoped he wasn't going to yell at me. 

“New rule, no more locking doors,” he told me. “If you lock the door again, it' ll come off for a week. Is that clear?”

I swallowed. “Yes, Uncle Sam.” I said. “Sorry.”

“I understand you were upset, but locking the door is not a safe thing for you to do. You need to talk about things if you're upset, not yell, or be nasty, or lock doors.”

“O-okay.” 

He looked at me. “Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“Uh- no,” I said, feeling confused. 

“All right. Well, I want you to seriously think about how you've been acting. Do I snap at you and sass you? Do any of us?”

I felt myself blushing. “No,” I said quietly. 

“Then it needs to stop. You need to think about your attitude and how you're talking, before you say something. I'm not going to put up with any more sassiness, and I'm not going to keep letting the attitude go. Now, your Dad and I talked about this, and this is what we came up with, to make you more aware of how often you're being sassy. Each time you mouth off or give me attitude, you'll get a warning. I'll decide when you've earned a consequence. Do you understand?” He gave me a stern look.

“That's not f-”

“Do you understand?” he repeated, in a stronger voice. 

“Uh- yes, Uncle Sam,” Warnings and consequences! That didn't seem fair! “What's the consequence gonna be?”

“That will depend on you,” he said. “Three or four warnings will get you a time out. More warnings will mean a more serious consequence.” 

He took a drink of his coffee. “Let's try to have a good day today, all right? I thought we could go to a zoo. I found one about two hours away from here.” 

“Yay!” I said happily. 

“After you eat breakfast, we can go.” he told me. 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

“Hi Daddy,” I said into the phone.

“Hi Charlie, I heard you went out today,” he said.

“Yeah, Uncle Sam took me to a zoo!” I told him. 

“Yeah? Did you enjoy it?”

“It was lots of fun! I got to feed some goats and sheeps, and then guess what?”

“What?”

“I held a snake! It was a kind of snake called a ball python!”

“You did?” Daddy laughed and sounded surprised. “You weren't scared?”

“No, it was cool! It wrapped itself around my arm!”

“What did it feel like?” Daddy asked. 

“It was warm, and it looked wet and shiny, but it was dry, and the scales were soft.” 

“You're very brave. What else did you do?”

“We watched a show with some seals and they dived into the water and splashed everyone! It was funny.” 

Daddy laughed again. “We'll have to go to the zoo and you can show me everything that you did.”

“When are you coming back?” I asked.

“In a couple of days,” he said. 

“Did you find any relatives?”

“Yes...a distant cousin of your mother's. I'll tell you about it when you get back. Anything else happen?”

“Uh- Uncle Sam says that if I lock the door again, the door will come off for a whole week.”

“I see,” Daddy sounded serious. “Did you get any warnings today?” 

“Uh, just one, Daddy.” 

“Well, good. Keep behaving, all right? I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too Daddy. Good night.” 

I handed the phone to Uncle Sam and went to brush my teeth. He came into the bedroom as I was getting into bed. 

“Tomorrow, we'll go to the library in the morning. There's a week-long reading and crafts program that I signed you up for,” he told me. 

“What is it?” I asked.

“A librarian reads a book to you, and then you make a craft based on the book, I think,” Uncle Sam explained. “I thought it sounded like a fun thing for you to do, it will get us out of the house, and you can be with some kids your age.” 

“Okay.” 

He leaned down and hugged me, then kissed my forehead. 

“Thanks for taking me to the Zoo today, Uncle Sam.”

“You're welcome, honey. I had fun with you. And you did a good job not being sassy,” He smiled down at me and brushed my hair back from my forehead. “Get some sleep.”  
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

“My name is Abby,” said the girl next to me. She was younger than me.

“I'm Charlie,” I told her. 

We had listened to a book about a zoo with lots of weird make-belive animals in it, and now we were making animals out of clay. 

I told her that I had just gone to the zoo, and about some of the animals I had seen.

“My mommy and I wented last summer,” she said. “After Daddy lefted us.” She looked at me. “Did you go with your mommy and daddy?”

“Uh, no, my Uncle.” 

“Where's your Mommy and Daddy?”

“Uh, my Daddy is, he's away right now and my Mommy is, uh, she's, uh, dead.”

“Oh. She's in heaven?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. 

“My granny is in heaven too. I met her before, but I don't 'member.” 

A woman came over to us, and Abby looked up at her. “Hi Mommy! This is my friend Charlie!” 

“Hi...Charlie?” she said, looking at me. “Oh!” she said, sounding surprised. I looked up, and Uncle Sam was coming over to the table. I noticed that almost all the adults were staring at him. It was pretty much all moms in the room with their kids. Abby's mom was looking at Uncle Sam with a funny look on her face. 

“H...hi,” she said. “I'm Raquel,” she held her hand out. 

“Oh, hi, I'm, uh, Sam,” Uncle Sam shook her hand. 

“We're going to go over to the McDonald's that's just down the road for lunch, a few of the moms here do that, would you like to join us?” she asked. “There's a big play area, and it's pretty clean. I promise, it doesn't get too loud!” 

I looked up at Uncle Sam. “Can we?”

He glanced down at me. “Uh...sure.” 

We cleaned up the supplies, and I took my clay animal with me, wrapped in paper towels. 

Uncle Sam looked funny, he towered over everyone in the play area, and he was the only man in there. There were a few little kids running around too, as well as about 5 kids from the library. Uncle Sam and I sat in the corner and ate our lunch quickly. 

Abby came over to me. “Hurry up an' eat so we can go play!” she said.

“Okay.” I smiled at her. After I had gotten up to run around with the kids, I saw Abby's mother motion to Uncle Sam to join her at her table. Uncle Sam walked over to the table with a couple other Moms sitting there, and sat down, looking uncertain. 

I had been playing for what seemed like a long time, when Uncle Sam's phone rang. He got up and walked into the main part of the restaurant for a minute to talk.

When he came back in, he walked over to the tubes where I was crawling around with the other kids. 

“Charlie, we need to go,” he called to me. “Charlie!”

I looked out of the little window on the side. “Aww, why?”

“Because...we do. Come on.”

“But I don't want to!” I protested. 

“Let's go,” he called, walking over to the table to throw away our trash. He turned around and put his hands on his hips. “Charlie,” he called again, and his voice was a little deeper. “I said, let's go.” 

I came down the slide and got out. “Okayokay!” I said with annoyance.

He looked down at me, and said quietly, “Warning number three.” 

“Aww, why?” I protested. 

“How many times did I just have to call you, and you didn't listen? And then you just gave me attitude? Get your shoes on, now,” he said sternly.

I slipped my tennis shoes on. “Bye, Abby! Bye, Sarah!” I called to the girls. 

We walked out to the car. 

“Time out when we get back,” Uncle Sam said. 

I folded my arms but didn't say anything, not wanting to get into any more trouble. 

“Come with me,” he said when we went inside. I followed him into the library, and he pointed to the sofa. “Sit down,” he said. “Eight minutes.” 

He turned on his laptop, and sat down in front of it. I sat quietly, swinging my legs and staring at the floor. 

Finally, he called me over to him. “Let's not have any more warnings today, hmm?” he asked, tucking my hair behind my ear. “What are you going to do right now?”

“Can I go swing on the tire swing?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said. 

It was just me and him for dinner- Uncle Bobby was still out working on a case. I was good, and managed to not get any more warnings.

 

The next day we went to McDonald's again after we did our craft project. I watched Abby eating lunch with her mom. They laughed and talked together, and it made me miss my mom. I looked around at the people in the play area. Once again, it was all moms. A mom feeding her toddler some applesauce, a mom giving a baby a bottle and telling her four year old to eat, a mom watching her two kids eat their burgers. It wasn't fair that my mom wasn't here any more. I watched Abby's Mom fixing her barette that had started to come out of her hair, and I felt jealous.

“Hey,” Uncle Sam said. “What are you thinking about?” 

“I dunno,” I lied. “Just...stuff.”

“Your Dad should be home tonight or tomorrow,” he said. 

“Did he find out anything about...me?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable.

“I'm not sure,” Uncle Sam said. “I'm sure he did. You're not supposed to worry about it, though, are you?”

“I know,” I looked down at the table. 

After I ate, I went to play with the kids again. This time, I saw Abby's mother get up and walk over to the table and sit down where I had been sitting. She and Uncle Sam talked for a while. 

When we got back to Uncle Bobby's house, he was home, and in the kitchen unpacking bags of groceries. 

“So, what's been goin' on here?” he asked us.

“Well,” Uncle Sam said hesitantly, “I think I was asked on a date.”


	21. Chapter 21

Uncle Bobby turned from the counter. “A date, Sam? Well, that's great, isn't it?”

“I, uh, I guess,” Uncle Sam said uncertainly.

“You mean a date like boyfriends and girlfriends have? You have a girlfriend?” I asked.

Uncle Sam blushed. “No! I don't have a, a girlfriend! Raquel asked me to get coffee some night this week.”

“Raquel?” Uncle Bobby asked in a teasing way.

“Abby's mommy?” I asked. “You're going on a date with her?” 

“Well, it's just to get coffee, nothing special.” Uncle Sam blushed an even deeper shade of red. 

“Let's leave him alone, Charlie,” Uncle Bobby said. “We talk about it any more and he's gonna turn into a tomato.”

 

That night at dinner, Uncle Bobby got a phone call and had to go back out. It was just me and Uncle Sam. We hung out in the library, him on his laptop and me reading a Hardy Boys mystery. This one was about a girl who people said was a witch. She had lots of weird stuff in her house, and books, but it turned out she was a scholar who was learning about witches and that's why she had all the herbs and crystal balls and everything. She kissed both of the Hardy Boys at the end of the story, to thank them for saving her--yuck! I went back to the chapter that described her house. One of the books that she had was called a 'grimoire'. It was a witch's spellbook, and I wondered if that was the 'grimmer' that the lady had talked about it my dream. 

I sat up on the sofa and glanced around, looking over at the bookshelves. My eyes landed on a book on the top shelf, it was a thick, dark, book and it looked like it said, The Black Grimoire on the spine. Now I was really curious! I wanted to see what was in that book. 

 

I woke up early in the morning. Uncle Sam was asleep and Uncle Bobby wasn't home. I looked out the window in the kitchen and there was fog in the front yard. It looked kind of spooky. I went into the the library and grabbed a stool, pulling it over to the shelf. I grabbed that black grimoire, and ran up the stairs to my room, tucking it under my arm. 

It was an old book, and the edges of the cover were a little crumbly. The edges of the pages were yellowed, and it smelled musty. I thumbed through it, looking for spells. It was a spellbook! It had lots of drawings too, some of them were kind of gross and scary. There was a diagram of a bat, cut open, with words to describe certain parts of the bat and what spells they could be used for. There were drawings of different kinds of herbs, what they looked like, and what they were used for in spells and magic. 

I heard a door squeak open and footsteps, and I closed the book and shoved it under my bed. Then I brushed the little bits that had come off of the book onto the floor. I laid down in bed, and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. I had to look through that book and see if there was a spell to bring my mommy back! 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Uncle Sam was standing outside the play area, talking on the phone. I was sitting at a table with Abby and her mommy. 

“Could you open this please?” I asked, holding up my bottle of chocolate milk.

“Sure, sweetie,” Miss Raquel said. She shook it and then pulled the plastic seal off, and twisted the cap off. She handed it back to me.

“Thank you,” I said. 

Miss Raquel reached over and wiped some ketchup off my face with a napkin. I smiled at her. She was nice. 

Abby grabbed at her mom's arm. “She's my mommy!” She said to me, giving me a dirty look. 

“I—I wasn't--” I said, suddenly feeling hurt.

“Leave her alone!” Abby snapped.

“Abby, be nice!” Miss Raquel said, frowning. She looked at me. “I'm sorry, she missed her nap yesterday, and she's grumpy today. She didn't mean it.” 

Uncle Sam came back to the table. “What's going on?” he asked, after looking at me for a moment. 

“Abby's being a little snappy,” Miss Raquel told him. Abby crawled onto her lap and snuggled into her mom's chest. I felt jealous...and then I felt sad. Abby didn't know how good she had it, even if her mommy and daddy had stopped being married last year.

“We're not going to stay for too long,” Uncle Sam told me, and gave me a big smile. I was okay with that, because Abby continued to be grumpy after we went to play, and kept running away from me. I felt like I didn't want to be around her any more. 

When we pulled into the driveway of Uncle Bobby's house, Uncle Sam glanced back at me and said, “Surprise!” 

I saw Grandpa John's truck parked in front of the house, and I unbuckled and started to get out. “Hey!” Uncle Sam grabbed my arm. “You don't get out of the car until it's stopped, and the engine is off, you hear me?” he looked down at me. “I know you're excited, but you need to be safe. That's a warning, young lady.” 

“Okay, Uncle Sam,” I said, but I didn't care if I got 10 warnings at that moment. I ran up the steps and opened the door. 

“Daddy!” I cried out happily. He got up from the table and came over to me, and I ran to him and jumped into his arms. He held me tightly, kissing my cheek and putting his hand on the back of my head. I started to cry a little bit. “I missed you!” I told him.

“I missed you too, sweetheart,” he said, He put me down, and Grandpa John came over and gave me a hug too. “Hey, little one,” he said, and ruffled my hair. 

“I have something important to tell you,” Daddy said. “Let's sit down.”

We sat down at the table, and he spread some papers out. 

“I found a relative- she's your mother's third cousin, I think? She's elderly...anyway, she told me some information about your family. It seems that each generation has one or two people in it that have some sort of special ability. She said that her sister could tell when people were going to die, and sometimes how they were going to. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to deal with that knowledge very well, and she became a recluse.”

“What's a recluse?” I asked.

“A person who never sees anyone or talks to anyone.” Daddy explained. “She verified your story of the relative who was the midwife too. She hadn't heard of anyone changing into something like your Aunt did, though. We were able to do some searching, and it turns out that your Great-Uncle and your Grandfather were in World War Two together, and they were dosed with some kind of gas during the fighting. This may have changed their DNA and caused mutations, which cause your Aunt's...condition.” 

“What does that mean? What's DNA? Does that mean that Aunt Michelle was a mutant like Wolverine?”

Daddy chuckled. “No, it's... it means that what happened to her Dad, in the war, may have changed her genes so that she became something different than the rest of the people in your family.”

“But she didn't wear jeans!” I said, still confused. “She wore suits! I don't get it!”

“What your Dad is trying to explain, is that you don't have anything to worry about,” Grandpa John spoke up. “We talked a a friend of mine, Missouri, remember we talked about her? She said that she had heard about other families having similar things happen. You don't have to worry about changing into anything else-- your ability is you knowing things, and that's all it's going to be. And as long as you can control that, you'll be fine.” He smiled at me. 

“So I'm not going to become a creature like Aunt Michelle, and eat anyone?” I asked, looking at all of them.

“No, honey, you're not,” Uncle Sam said reassuringly. 

Daddy looked at me. “So what else has been going on around here?”

“Uncle Sam has a date!” I told him. “He's going to go on a coffee date with Miss Raquel!” 

Daddy and Grandpa John laughed. “Really Sam? That's awesome!” 

Uncle Sam blushed. “Don't get too excited. It's just for coffee.”

“Well, you need to get out more, son,” Grandpa John clapped his hand on Uncle Sam's back.

“How did you meet her?” Daddy asked. 

“At the library. Her daughter and Charlie are doing the craft program.”

“Oh, she's got a kid!” Daddy chuckled. “Maybe you'll get some practice being a Step-Dad!” 

“No thanks, I'm fine being an Uncle,” Uncle Sam said, smiling at me. 

“Abby might be jealous anyways,” I said. “She grumped at me when her mom helped me.”

“Well, I doubt that anything is going to happen, so don't start planning a wedding or anything, geez,” Uncle Sam said, getting red again. 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I walked into my bedroom, rubbing my wet hair with a towel. Daddy was sitting on my bed. 

“We have something do deal with yet,” he said.

“Uh-” I stopped by the door. 

“We need to have that talk about you breaking the computer rules.”

I felt my face get red. “I'm sorry, Daddy,” I said, getting nervous. “Are you gonna spank me?”

“Yes, I am,” he told me. “And I have to tell you, I'm not happy about all the sassing either.” 

I squirmed, feeling embarrassed. 

“Come here and I'll dry your hair,” he said. I walked over to him and he took the towel from me, and rubbed my hair until it was just damp. He set the towel on the bed next to him. 

“Turn around, Charlie,” he told me. I turned around to face him. He had a stern look on his face. “Sam told me he had you writing lines, and you even gave him grief while you were doing that,” he said. “I understand what he's trying to do with giving you the warnings, and making you more aware of how often you are being mouthy, but I'm telling you, if it continues, I'm going to do away with the warnings, and just start handing out consequences. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. I didn't want to ask what kind of consequences he meant. 

He sat up and put his hands on his thighs. “Now, I don't want to have to have another talk about the computer again.”

“But Daddy, I was bored! And Uncle Sam didn't come to put the next show on--”

“Then you should have gone and asked him. And you decided to play a game afterwards, when you already know better. That doesn't excuse what you did, little girl.”  
He took my arm in his hand. “Come on-” he said. 

“But Uncle Sam already--” I protested, trying to back away from him. 

“No, Charlie,” he said, and he pulled me forward and then turned me over his lap. I started to cry, because I felt guilty, and because I knew I had done the wrong thing, and because my mouth just couldn't help being sassy sometimes. I cried harder as he spanked me, and I squirmed around trying to get away from his falling palm, and I kicked my feet. Finally he stopped, and pulled me to sit up in his lap. I clutched at his shirt, sobbing. “I'm s-sorry, D-daddy.” 

“All right, sweetheart,” he said gently. “I know you are. You're a good girl, you just need to learn to watch your mouth more.” 

He snuggled with me until I was calm, rubbing my back and stroking my hair. Then we went downstairs so I could have a bed time snack and say good night to everyone. 

 

The next day, Daddy went to the library with me and Uncle Sam. When we went to eat afterwards, there were more moms than usual with us, and a lot of them were either sitting at the table with Daddy and Uncle Sam or standing around. Uncle Sam looked a little uncomfortable from time to time, but Daddy seemed like he was having fun, talking and laughing a lot. 

In the car on the way back to Uncle Bobby's, Daddy said, “Well, hey, I got two phone numbers today, how about that?” He grinned at Uncle Sam. 

“For what?” I asked. 

“Uncle Sammy's not the only one that's going to be going out on a date,” he told me over his shoulder.

“Wait- you mean some of the moms want to go out on dates with you too?”

Daddy laughed. “Don't sound so shocked, Charlie. I'm a handsome guy, you know?”

“And oh so modest,” Uncle Sam said sarcastically.

“Nah, I'm confident, and the chicks like that.” 

“Do you have to?” I asked.

“Do I have to what?” Daddy glanced back at me. 

“Go on dates.”

“Well, why wouldn't I?” he glanced at me again. “It's just a bit of fun.” 

“Who's going to watch me when you guys are on your dates?” I asked.

“It's not going to be at the same time, probably.” Uncle Sam explained. “We wouldn't leave you alone, Charlie.” 

That wasn't what I was worried about. All of the women at the library were moms. What if Daddy and Uncle Sam went out on dates with them, and fell in love with them and their kids, and then got married and didn't want me any more? What if the kids were better behaved than me and nicer? What if they liked them better? I turned my head and looked out the window, biting my lip so that I didn't start crying.

When we got to Uncle Bobby's house, he and Grandpa John were in the library, looking at a map that was spread out on a desk in the library. They motioned for Daddy and Uncle Sam to come over to them.

“Signs are starting up again,” Grandpa John said urgently. “I think we have a good chance of catching him this time.”

Daddy turned to me. “Charlie, go play out back for a while. Swing on the tire swing or something, we've got to do some work here.” 

“Okay,” I agreed, although I had wanted to sit with Daddy when we came back. Maybe I'd get a chance to sit with him tonight after dinner. I had missed him a lot while he was gone.


	22. Chapter 22

It was the last day of the craft program at the library, and all the moms had decided to meet at a local park afterwards instead of going to McDonald's, for a picnic. Uncle Sam stopped at the store on the way there and bought a fruit tray to bring. Daddy came too, and he bought cookies, because he said that “you always need dessert at a picnic”.

Everyone had already started to eat by the time we got to the park. Daddy helped me get some food and walked me over to a table that was full of moms and kids. 

I looked up at him. “Sit next to me, Daddy,” I said.

“There isn't really room,” he said. He and Uncle Sam stood behind me and ate. I noticed some of the moms looking over at them. Maybe because they were the tallest people there? 

After I ate, I went to swing on the swings. Daddy came over and pushed me, and then the little boy next to me called to him, “Push me too!” 

So Daddy did, and then he started to give all the kids pushes. 

At the other end, a woman started to talk to him. He stood there for a few moments, chatting.

“Daddy!” I called. “I need more pushes, please!” 

Uncle Sam came over and started to push me instead, and I saw Daddy walk a little ways away from the swings, still talking. 

“Hey, push me more!” the kid next to me said again.

“I'm done,” I turned my head back to look at Uncle Sam. “I wanna get off.”

He grabbed the chains and slowed the swing down so I could hop off. I walked over to where Daddy was standing, deep in conversation. I put my arms around his waist, and he glanced down at me. 

“Who's this?” the woman asked. She had a tank top and leggings on, the type of clothing that a person wears when they are exercising. 

“This is my daughter, Charlie,” Daddy said. 

“Oh,” the woman said, tossing her hair. She smiled at Daddy.

“What's up, kiddo?” Daddy asked me.

“Nothing,” I said. He gave me a little hug and then patted my shoulder. “Go on and play, we're talking right now.” 

I looked up at him. He was looking at the woman intently, and she was looking back at him. 

Neither of them acted like they even knew I was there. I sighed and let go of Daddy, then I walked away. I went and found Abby, but she was playing some game with a couple younger kids where they were digging in the dirt with sticks, and I didn't want to do that. 

One of the kids started to play tag, so I joined in and ran around with some kids for a while. When we were all hot and sweaty, one of the moms said we all needed to get drinks, so we stopped and they handed out juice boxes. I saw Uncle Sam standing by a tree, but I couldn't see Daddy anywhere. 

“I gotta go pee,” Abby said to her mom.

“Anyone else?” Miss Raquel asked. A couple kids chimed in that they had to go too, so Miss Raquel and another mom said they would take the group to the restroom. It was in a building that was next to the playground. There was a basketball court and an exercise room in the building, and a couple of rooms that the other mom said were classrooms. I went in with everyone and did my business, then washed my hands and went to wait in the hallway with the other kids. The moms had told us to wait for them to come out. 

I turned and saw Daddy and the woman he'd been talking to, coming from down the hallway where the classrooms were. Daddy saw me and looked surprised. “What are you doing in here?” he asked me.

“Going to the bathroom,” I told him. “What are you doing in here?”

“Well, uh, Lori was, uh, showing me, uh, where she teaches aerobics,” Daddy said, and his face got a little red.

I laughed, trying to imagine Daddy doing aerobics. “You don't do exercise, Daddy!” I said, and it looked like his face got even redder! 

“She was just showing me around,” he muttered, and they left the building as the moms came out of the bathroom. 

We walked back to the playground, and I saw Daddy coming over from the parking lot, and a car driving away. Daddy raised his hand to wave goodbye to the car. 

Uncle Sam walked up to Daddy quickly, and I heard him say, “What the hell, Dean, did you just--” then he saw me behind Daddy, and stopped talking. 

Daddy turned and saw me. “What are you doing, Charlie?” Daddy asked, and he sounded a little annoyed. 

“I wanted to be with you,” I said, feeling a little hurt. “Is that a crime?” I snapped, and I turned and stomped away. I walked around the edges of the playground by myself for a couple of minutes, and then Daddy caught up with me. 

“You okay?” he asked. I shrugged. 

“Do you want to stay here for a while longer, or are you ready to go?” He took my arm and stopped me. “Hey, what's going on?” he asked. I shrugged again, not looking at him. 

“Talk to me, kiddo,” he said. 

“I just-- I feel like I barely saw you since you got back,” I told him, suddenly feeling like I was going to cry. “And there's too much going on here.”

Daddy squatted down in front of me. “Tell you what,” he said, “I've got to give Baby a tune up when we get back, how about you be my helper? Want to do that?”

“Uh...okay?” I said. “Who's Baby?”

He stood up. “My car!” he told me. 

“Why do you call her your baby?”

“She's not my baby, she's just 'Baby'. You're my baby, my baby girl,” he said, and he swung me up onto his hip and hugged me. We walked over to Uncle Sam, who was chatting with Miss Raquel. 

“Bye, see you later!” some of the kids called. As we walked to the car, Uncle sam said,

“More phone numbers. For meeting at the park every week, not for dates. Well, maybe for you, Dean.” He gave Daddy a look.

 

When we got back to Uncle Bobby's house, Daddy pulled the car into the front of the garage, and brought out a huge chest- of- drawers thing on wheels. It was a giant tool box.

“Uncle Bobby said I'm not allowed in the garage,” I said nervously.

“You're with me, it's fine,” Daddy said. He opened the hood of the car and started to look at it, then he walked over and took some tools out of the drawers.

Over the next hour, Daddy taught me what a carburetor was, and about the different parts of the engine like pistons, spark plugs, fan belt, and alternator. He showed me how some of it worked and let me try to tighten a bolt. We both got grease and dirt on our hands, but it was fun to be with Daddy and listen to him telling me stories about the car.

It had been Grandpa John's car before, and they had driven all over the U.S. in it while Grandpa John was hunting. Daddy said that he and Uncle Sam had grown up riding in the back seat and that it felt like their home away from home. 

“Come here,” he motioned to me. “Take a look at this,” he pulled up a floor mat in the back seat. There were two sets in initials carved in the bottom of the floor, “D.W.” and “S.W.” 

I looked at him. “Did you and Uncle Sam do that?” I asked.

“Yeah, when we were kids,” he said, a little sheepishly. “Your grandpa still doesn't know.”

“Can I put my letters there too?” I asked. 

“Well...sure.” Daddy pulled a knife out of his pocket and opened it. He let me hold it and put his hands over mine, then we carved, “C.W.” into the floor, next to his initials.

He straightened up and closed the knife, and I hugged him. “Thanks, Daddy!” I said happily. 

“You're welcome, sweetheart,” he said, smiling at me. He hugged me back, and then said, “I think we are both going to need baths tonight, I know I'm all greasy, and now you're all dirty too!”

“I don't care, I like being with you,” I told him. I helped him put the tools away, and then we went into the kitchen. 

Grandpa John was at the stove, stirring a pot. “Well, look here, we've got Mr. Grease Monkey, and Grease Monkey Junior!” he grinned at us. 

“Come into the bathroom, Charlie, and I'll show you the special soap we have to get the car grease off,” Daddy said. There was a special soap to use for that, for the black grease on our hands. 

I took a quick bath while dinner was cooking, and then after dinner, Daddy took a shower. Uncle Sam was getting ready to go on his date with Miss Raquel.He came into the library where we were all sitting around. I was on the sofa next to Grandpa John. I was reading a Hardy Boys book, and he was looking through a newspaper.

“Should I wait up for you?” Grandpa John asked with a teasing smile.

“No, and don't tell me I've got a curfew either,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Thank God we don't have to worry about that any more, huh Sammy?” Daddy came into the room with a towel around his neck. “Breaking John Winchester's curfew always meant a sore butt.”

I looked at Daddy. “Grandpa John would spank you?” 

Daddy sat down next to me. “Yep, he did, when we broke his rules or disobeyed. He could be pretty strict.” 

“Well, you need to follow orders when you're hunting, because it can be a life or death situation. I was training you two, and now you're great hunters because of that.”

“Oh, I know, Dad. When I was a kid, I didn't like it though. No kid likes having their butt walloped.” Daddy said. 

“Now that he's a grandfather, he's an old softy,” Uncle Sam grinned at Grandpa John. 

“Well, that's what grandparents are supposed to be, right? They're supposed to spoil their grandkids, fill them up with candy, and send them back to their parents.” Grandpa John smiled at me and leaned over to tweak my nose.

“How come you never let me fill up on candy?” I asked him. “You owe me, big time!” 

That made all of them laugh. 

“All right, I'm leaving.” Uncle Sam beckoned to me. “Give me a hug, Charlie. Have a good night.” 

I hugged Uncle Sam and Daddy gave him the keys.

“Be good to Baby,” Daddy called. “No food in her, remember?”

“Yes, Dean, I remember,” Uncle Sam rolled his eyes as he walked out the door.

 

The next morning I woke up to all four of them deep in conversation in the library. There was a couple of maps spread out, and one of them had lots of red marks and Xs all over it. 

“What are you doing?” I asked Daddy. “Can I help?”

“No, and don't touch anything,” Daddy said. “We're working on a case, Charlie. This is important.” 

“Uncle Sam, how did your date go?” I asked him.

“It was fine,” he said, but he was distracted. 

“Will you make me some oatmeal?” I leaned on his arm and looked at him, but he was looking at his laptop.

“No, Charlie, I'm working right now.”

“Go get yourself some cereal,” Daddy said. “We need to concentrate on this.” 

“Okay,” I agreed. I went into the kitchen and got myself a bowl of Lucky Charms.

After I ate, I went back into the library. Daddy was sitting at the desk, looking at what looked like a map on the computer. “I'm plotting the co-ordinates of all the weather patterns in the area,” he was saying.

“Can I sit with you?” I asked him.

“Not now, Charlie,” he said. “Go find something to do.”

“But Daddy--” I started.

Daddy turned to me. “Charlie. This is a big case, and all of us are working together on it. We need to be focused, so you need to go and do something on your own.”

I looked up at him, feeling a little hurt. “Can I watch a video on the laptop?”

“No, I don't trust you with the laptop, and Uncle Sam is using it anyway. Go play,” he said dismissively. That hurt my feelings even more, and I stomped out of the room and went upstairs to my room. I got out my Polly Pocket toys and played with them for a while, but then I got bored and went back downstairs. They were all still looking stuff up. There were books open all over, and Grandpa John had a pad of paper and was writing a list of something on it. 

“I found more cattle mutilations in the south of the area,” Uncle Sam said.

I walked over to him instead of Daddy. He glanced at me and shut his laptop abruptly, but not before I glimpsed a photograph with what looked like a cow head and lots of blood. I looked up at him, feeling scared. 

“What was that?” I asked. “Are you trying to find another creature like Aunt Michelle?”

“No, Charlie. Don't worry about it,” he said. “You shouldn't be in here right now.”

“Stop saying don't worry!” I snapped. “And what am I s'posed to do, I'm bored!”

“How about you write some lines, 'I will not snap at people',” Daddy said sternly. I turned to look at him, and he was watching me with an angry look on his face.

“No!” I whined. 

“Excuse me?” he said, raising his eyebrows. 

“I just want to be with you!” I said, whining again. 

“We're still working on this right now.” Daddy told me. “You have to find something to entertain yourself. If you can't, I'm sure Uncle Bobby's kitchen floor needs to be swept and mopped.”

“I don't want to do any chores!” I snapped. 

Daddy leaned forward. “You're this close to getting a consequence, kid,” he held his hand up with his thumb and forefinger right next to each other. 

“You're mean!” I said, and I turned away from him and started to walk out of the library. Daddy came after me and caught my arm at the bottom of the stairs. 

“Charlotte Anne.” he said tightly. “I'm not going to put up with this today. Rein in the attitude now, or you're going to find yourself over my knee. I'm not in the mood to give you a bunch of warnings while you sass me over and over.” 

“Fine, then leave me alone!” I tried to yank my arm out of his hand.

He pulled me close to him. “We are working on something very important right now,” he said, and his voice was hard. “Things aren't always about you and what you want.” 

“I said fine!” I tried to pull away again, and he smacked my butt once. 

“Go to your room!” he let go of me and pointed up the stairs. 

I ran, tears filling my eyes, and threw myself down on the bed. I cried for a few minutes, then I got off the bed and started to clean up the toys I had left out before. I got out all of my Hello Kitty figurines and looked at them. I wished I could get more of them. I wished I had my big dollhouse that I had had in the apartment with my mom. I had loved playing with it and could easily spend hours playing with it and re-arranging the furniture and stuff. I took out one of the Harry Potter books and started to read that for a while. 

There was a knock on the door. I sat up and called, “Come in.” 

The door opened and Uncle Sam said, “Lunch is ready, are you hungry?” 

He had made ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone, and he sat with me in the kitchen while I ate. He let me have some potato chips with lunch too, instead of insisting that I eat vegetables. Everyone else was still in the library working. 

 

After lunch, Uncle Bobby got out some gardening tools and took them out to his back yard. He had marked off a small square near the door. “Here ya go, kid, start digging,” he told me.

“What do you mean?” I looked up at him. 

“Well, you're always asking about the garden back here, so I figured I'd let you do some planting of your own. Dig up the grass in this area I've marked off, and really get the soil turned over, and then we can go buy some plants for you to put in here.” He took his cap off of his head and re-settled it.

“Thanks, Uncle Bobby!” I hugged him.

“Go for it, kid,” he said, and went back inside. 

 

I walked into the kitchen, feeling sweaty and hot. I could hear loud voices coming from the library. I stood by the table, listening to them talk.

“--know it killed Mom, but it killed Jess too. My girlfriend. I should be the one there helping Dad. I need to be there, Dean.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Sammy-” Daddy started.

“No, don't pull out the childhood nickname. I've been here playing sitter for a while now, I need to get out there and see this through, for Jess.” Uncle Sam's voice was bitter. 

“This is something we've all been working towards, Sam, we should all be there-” Daddy said. 

“Dude, she needs you, your kid needs you to be here for a while, not running off on hunts all the time,” Uncle Sam said. “She doesn't say it, but I know she misses you.” 

“I get that, man, but when's the next time we're going to get this opportunity? This is big, bigger than all of us, and she's gonna have to just deal with that. Bobby said she could stay here as long as we need to be gone--”

“And you seriously think she's going to agree to stay with a grumpy old man she barely knows?” Uncle Sam's voice came closer. “I need a beer, anyone else?” Uncle Sam was glancing behind him as he walked into the kitchen. He turned his head and saw me. “Charlie!” he said in a surprised voice. 

“I'm hungry... you-- you're going to go away and leave me here?” I squeaked out, tears filling my eyes. 

Daddy came to the door just then. “Oh, Charlie--” he started to say, but I turned and ran up the stairs. 

He came to my bedroom door just as I was closing it, and I slammed it in his face. He grabbed the knob and pushed on the door, preventing me from locking it. 

I let go and ran over to the bed, burying myself under the covers. 

I felt the bed dip as Daddy sat down. “Talk to me,” Daddy said in a quiet voice.

“Why did you take me if you're just going to keep leaving me all the time?” I asked. “Why don't you want me?”

“Charlie, I do want you,” Daddy said earnestly. “But this- -this thing that's happening, it's something that I've been waiting for for a long time, we all have, and it's very important--”

“Then go!” I shrieked. “Go away and leave me alone!” I felt his hand on my side, and I wrenched my body away from him. “Don't touch me!” I shouted. 

“Charlie--” 

“NO!” I shouted. “GO! AWAY!” 

“Can I tell you something?” he asked quietly. “You know that my mother... passed away, right? Well, she was...killed...by something supernatural, too. Just like your mom was. And Grandpa John has been searching for it, ever since. And he thinks that he's found it, and...Sam and I want to be there when he...does away with it.” 

I pulled the covers off of my head. “What is it?”

He looked uneasy. “I don't think you need to know that right now. In fact, the less you know, the better.”

“Fine, then just go.” I sighed, turning away from him. 

“Charlie, please-” he said, and his voice broke. 

“Dean,” Grandpa John said from the hallway. “I need to talk to you, come downstairs.” 

Daddy leaned down and kissed the side of my head. “I'll be back,” he told me. 

I heard their footsteps walking down the stairs. 

I curled up in a ball and cried. I felt hurt and sad- was he really going to go away and leave me here with Uncle Bobby? 

I heard their voices getting louder and sounding angrier. They were arguing. It sounded like Daddy said, “You can't tell me what to do!” and then their voices got angrier sounding. 

“THIS IS MY BATTLE TO FIGHT!” Grandpa John roared, and I heard a door slam, so hard that the walls shook. 

It was quiet after that. I smelled food cooking, and then Daddy came to my door.  
“Charlie- you awake?” he asked. “It's time for dinner.”

I sat up, and he walked over to the bed. “Sweetheart, I'm sorry--” he started to say, and I jumped off of the bed and threw myself at him. He picked me up and hugged me close. 

“Listen,” he said, as I tried to make myself not cry, “I'm not going anywhere right now. None of us are. And I do want you, Charlie, I'm happy that you're my daughter. All right?”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said, sniffling. 

He carried me downstairs, and set me down in the kitchen. Uncle Bobby had made hamburgers. 

“Eat some salad,” Uncle Sam set a bowl next to me. We sat and ate silently. 

After he finished, Uncle Bobby stood up. “Y'all do the clean up, would ya? I'm gonna go search for John.” 

I helped Daddy rinse and stack the dishes in the dishwasher when we were finished eating. 

Then Daddy went upstairs to get ready for one of his dates. 

I followed him upstairs and stood at the bathroom door watching as he shaved his face with an electric razor. 

“Does that hurt?” I asked him.

“Nope,” he said. “Want to feel it?” He leaned down and pressed it to my cheek for a moment.

“It tickles!” I said, giggling. 

He straightened up and kept running it over his chin. 

“Who are you going out with tonight?” I asked him. 

“Um, her name is Kayla, she had two kids, a girl your age and a younger boy. I can't remember their names.” 

“I hope they don't like you,” I muttered. 

Daddy chuckled. “What's that supposed to mean?” 

I looked at him. “You're my Daddy, no one else's!” I exclaimed, feeling scared all of a sudden. 

He turned off the razor, and then bent down to me. “Of course I'm your Daddy. Even if I ended up being someone else's too, I'll always be yours, first and foremost. Okay?” 

“Okay,” I said doubtfully. 

I tried not to cry when he left. I still felt nervous and a little jealous. What if he liked those kids better than me? What if he fell in love with this Kayla lady and she didn't want any more kids other than her own? Would she make him get rid of me? Where would I go? Would I have to stay here at Uncle Bobby's forever?


	23. Chapter 23

Uncle Bobby was still out looking for Grandpa John, so it was just me and Uncle Sam. We sat on the sofa together and watched a movie called The Hobbit. 

“Uncle Sam,” I asked, “If you got married, would you still hunt with Daddy?”

“Umm...I don't know,” he replied. “It would depend on the circumstances.” 

“Well what if she had kids already and she didn't want you to, would you? What if she didn't want you to have anything to do with your old life?” 

Uncle Sam turned towards me on the sofa. “Where is this coming from, hmm?” he asked. “No one is getting married any time soon. Not me, not your Dad. And if we did, we'd make sure that they were okay with every aspect of our lives, including you. You wouldn't get pushed out or left behind, okay?” He leaned down and looked me in the eyes. “Are you worried about that?”

I felt myself blushing and looked down at my hands, but he caught my chin, lifting my face so that I had to look at him. 

“Look at me, honey,” he said gently. “Your Dad isn't going to stop taking care of you, and neither am I, okay? I promise.” 

I felt my chin wobbling as my eyes filled up with tears, and then I started to cry.

He gathered me into his arms and pulled me onto his lap and held me tightly while I cried. “I keep forgetting how much you've been through recently,” he said quietly, almost to himself. 

He held me on his lap while we watched the rest of the movie, and then I woke up later to him tucking me into bed.  
“Is Daddy home yet?” I mumbled sleepily.

“Not yet,” he told me. “ Don't worry, go back to sleep.”

I rolled over and closed my eyes.

 

In the morning, everyone was at the table except for Grandpa John.

“He decided to go off on his own an' hunt this thing, the idjit,” Uncle Bobby said. “You know how stubborn he is, gotta do it his way.” 

“Dammit,” Daddy said. “I'd go after him if I could.”

I looked at him. “Go ahead.” I said. “Go do your hunting and leave me here, it doesn't matter!” Suddenly I burst into tears and ran out of the room, into the library, where I threw myself down on the sofa and covered my head with my arms. 

I heard footsteps come in and then someone sat next to me. 

“Hey,” Daddy said, “Uncle Sam told me that you're feeling pretty insecure.” 

I turned my head, sniffling, and looked at him. “What's that mean?”

“You're worried that we're going to get rid of you or something. Which isn't going to happen, by the way. You're my daughter--”

I sat up quickly. “But you can't do your hunting like you used to and you can't do anything like you are used to doing because I'm here! I'm just in the way!” I exclaimed. 

He sighed, putting his elbows on his knees. “You're not in the way. Yes, it's different, having you here, but there would be an adjustment no matter what, if I had a 9 to 5 job and a regular life, or not. We're all going to have to figure out how to be a family, and we're all going to do it together. No one is getting left behind or sent away or anything. All right?”

He reached out and brushed my hair off of my face. “Come and eat some breakfast, and then we're going to go buy some plants for that little patch you dug up yesterday. You need to decide what you want to plant in there. Okay?”

I looked at him. “We are? Do I have to buy seeds or can I buy already grown plants?”

“Whatever you want,” Daddy said. “Uncle Bobby's going to take us to a place that sells all kinds of plants and seeds.” 

We went back to the kitchen and Uncle Sam made me some oatmeal. I helped Daddy wash the dishes, and then I went to my room to get dressed. All of a sudden, I felt tired, and dizzy, so I sat down on my bed for a minute. 

“Charlie!” I heard Daddy calling up the stairs. “Charlie, are you coming?” 

I tried to answer him, but I was so sleepy. I realized I was laying down. 

Daddy came into the room and walked over to me. “What are you doing, kiddo?” he asked. “Did Uncle Sam let you stay up really late or something?”

“No...just feel sleepy...” I mumbled. 

He leaned over and put his hand on my forehead. “Oh geez, you're burning up,” he said. He put his hand on my cheek, and then the back of my neck. “You feeling okay?”

“Uh-uh,” I said, trying to sit up. I got dizzy again. He pulled the covers down, and helped me get into bed, and tucked me in.

“Be right back,” he told me. “Sam!” I heard him call, “Sammy, do we have a thermometer in the med kit?” 

It seemed like hours later that he was back. “Charlie, open your mouth for me,” Daddy said. “Hold this under your tongue. Can you do that?” He put a digital thermometer in my mouth, which I wasn't used to. Mommy had used one that went in my ear. 

“It's under your tongue, right?” Uncle Sam looked at me, concern on his face. “Look at how flushed she is, Dean,” he said. 

The thermometer beeped and Daddy took it out of my mouth, holding it up to his face. His eyes widened. “102- geez, that's not good.” He looked at Uncle Sam. “You got the ibuprofen?”

“Yeah,” Uncle Sam walked over to the dresser, and then he brought over a small cup of pink liquid. “Can you sit up?” he asked me. 

I propped myself up on my elbow, and took the cup, swallowing the medicine quickly. It tasted like bubble gum. Then I felt cold, and started to shiver. I laid down again and pulled the covers around me. “I'm cold,” I whined. 

“I'll go get another blanket,” Uncle Sam left the room.

“How are you feeling besides cold, anything hurt? How is your throat?” Daddy asked.

“No, nothing hurts,” I said. “Just tired.”

Uncle Sam brought a quilt in and laid it on top of me, tucking it around me.   
“Get some rest, okay?” he said. 

“Call if you need anything,” Daddy said, and they both left the room. I drifted back to sleep. 

I unzipped the tent, and walked around it, and started to walk towards the bushes, so I could hide. 

“Little girl!” someone said, and I turned. Uncle Sam stood there looking at me, and he beckoned to me. Just the, a huge wolf-creature came barrelling out of the woods and jumped on him, knocking him down onto the ground. I could hear snarling and tearing sounds, and see bits of blood and flesh flying up in the air-- and then Daddy was there, leaning down, and then he looked at me. “This is all your fault!” he said, and then the wolf-creature sprang up and jumped on him, and he yelled out, and I started to scream too--

“Charlie! Wake up!” someone said. I felt hands on my shoulders.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry!” I wailed, “It's all my fault!” I opened my eyes. Daddy was sitting on the bed, looking down at me. 

“That must have been some dream, huh?” he asked, and I started to cry harder. He picked me up and held me, and I grabbed on to him, grateful that I had been dreaming.   
“Shh,” he murmured. “It was just a dream, you're safe. It's okay, it was just a dream.”

He pulled back and looked at me. “You want to come downstairs?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Don't leave me.” 

He carried me down to the library, where they were all working. Uncle Sam was at his laptop and Uncle Bobby was in front of his computer. 

Daddy sat down on the sofa with me in his lap. He arranged the blanket he'd brought with me, tucking it around me, and put his arm around me. Then his phone rang. 

“Oh, hi, Lori. Yeah, I've got to cancel,” he said regretfully, “My daughter is sick. She's running a pretty high fever right now, and I need to be here. Yeah, I'll call you when she's better, and we can get together then. All right, see you.” He hung up and slid the phone back in his pocket. 

“Is that the lady from the playground?” I asked him.

“Yeah, we were supposed to go out tonight, but I'm not going to go. I want to be here and make sure you're okay,” he told me. 

“You can go,” I said, but he shushed me. “Nope, not while my baby girl's sick. The only place I'm going is to the doctor if you need it.” He kissed my forehead.

“Raquel called me,” Uncle Sam said, “apparently there was a bug going around the playground, her kid has whatever this is, and a couple of other kids that were there are getting sick too.” 

“Did she say what it is?” Daddy asked.

Uncle Sam shook his head. “Probably just some random virus, high fever, body aches, fatigue, the usual.” 

“It was a bug?” I asked. “I didn't see any bugs.” 

“No, he means a bug like an illness.” Daddy told me. “You're not the only kid that's sick right now, a bunch of the kids that were playing together got it.” 

I started to fall asleep in his lap, and then I felt him shifting me onto the sofa.

 

I had to hurry, I was going to be late. I ran through crowds of people walking on sidewalks, dodging moms with strollers and little old ladies walking their dogs, until I got to the church. I tried to pull on the doors, but they were locked, so I banged on them as I heard music starting up on the inside. The door swung outward, knocking me backwards, and then there was a preacher-guy in robes frowning at me.  
“You're late,” he said. “You're too late, you can't be included!”   
I pushed past him and hurried into the church, running up the long center aisle that just seemed to get longer and longer.  
“Wait!” I called to the crowd of people at the other end. “Wait for me!”   
As I got closer, they turned. Uncle Sam and a group was on one side, and Daddy and another group was on the other side. They each had a woman in a big fluffy bride's dress with them, and each of them was carrying a little kid or a baby.   
“There's no room for you,” Uncle Sam said to me.   
“No room,” Daddy shook his head. “You don't belong,”   
They turned their backs to me, and looked at the people surrounding them. “Let's go,” they said.   
“Wait, “ I called out. “Wait, please! I'm sorry I was late! I didn't mean it, please let me join!” I started to cry, trying to follow them as they all walked out a side door.   
The preacher-guy grabbed my arm. “No, you can't go,” he told me with a frown.

Then his voice changed, and he said, “Wake up, Charlie. Wake up, I want to check you.” 

I opened my eyes, and I was laying on the sofa in the library. Daddy was leaning down over me, and I looked up at him and said, “Will there be room for me?”

He looked confused. “What?” 

“When you get married!” and then I burst into tears. “I dreamed that you got married but I was late...and there was lots of kids there that were yours now......and you said I didn't belong.” 

“Sweetheart, no-one's getting married any time soon,” he said. “You're really hot, open your mouth for me,” and he slipped the thermometer under my tongue. 

I sniffled as I laid there, and he stroked my hair back from my face. When it beeped, he took it out and looked at it, and he got a worried frown on his face. He showed it to Uncle Sam, who stood up and left the room. 

“Let's go upstairs, Charlie,” he said. “Your fever's gotten higher.” 

He poured me a dose of medicine, and I drank it, and then he carried me up to me room.

Uncle Sam was waiting there with some towels and washcloths. 

“We need to get your fever down,” Daddy said, and they both started to wipe me down with damp washcloths, which made me feel cold. 

“No!” I exclaimed, trying to push them away. “I don't like this! You're makin' me cold, stop it!” I started to shiver as Uncle Sam laid a cool cloth across the back of my neck.

“Stoooopp!” I whined, pulling it off and throwing it on the floor.

“Hey,” Daddy said, “Don't do that. Youre fever is high, and I don't want it to get any higher,” he told me. He put another cloth on my forehead. I tried to jerk my head away from him. “No!” I shouted. “Get off!” 

“Charlie, stop,” Uncle Sam said firmly. “If you don't let us do this, we'll have to put you in the tub, and you'll like that even less.” 

I started to cry again. “You're mean!” I whimpered, as they wiped my arms and legs down. 

Uncle Sam held a glass of water up to my mouth. “Drink some water, you haven't had anything to drink in a few hours.”

“I don't want any,” I whined.

“Drink some. Half the glass, okay?” 

“Nooooo!” I whined again, and I knocked it away. Some of it splashed on Daddy's shirt, and he looked annoyed. “Charlie. Stop fussing and drink the water. Now!” he ordered sternly. 

I looked at him, and he raised his eyebrows. “You keep this up, you're gonna have a hot bottom compared to the rest of you after I'm done.” 

I gulped, and took the glass from Uncle Sam, and drank the rest of what was in it.   
I started to shiver. “I'm cooooold,” I whined. 

“All right, get under the covers,” Daddy said. 

“I'm going to the store and get some acetomenophin, you can piggyback it with ibuprofen when the fever is really high,” he said. “I'll be back in a little bit.” 

Daddy sat on the edge of the bed and tucked the covers around me again. 

“Stay here,” I begged him. “Don't leave me, I keep having weird dreams.” 

Daddy held my hand and stroked my hair back from my face with the other hand. 

Then someone was shaking my shoulder and waking me up. Everything was hurting at that point. I whimpered as someone turned me over. 

“Uncle Sam got an ear thermometer,” Daddy said, and he put something in my ear. I heard it beep, and he took it out. “Damn,” he muttered. “Charlie, you need to take more medicine, sit up for me,” he said. “Come on.” He put his arm around my shoulders and helped me to sit up.

“Owww,” I whined. “My arms and legs hurt.” 

“It's part of the illness,” Uncle Sam said, handing me another little cup, this liquid was red. I started to drink it, and choked. “Eww! This is yucky!” I complained. 

“I still want you to take it,” Daddy told me. “Your fever is very high, and this will help it come down.” 

I tried to hand him the cup, which was half full. “Nooooo,” I whined. 

“Charlie, drink the rest of it,” Daddy said in a deeper voice. He looked worried. 

“I've got some ice water here, you can drink some of that after you take the medicine,” Uncle Sam said kindly. 

“Don't want ice water,” I said sulkily. I tried to lay back down, and Daddy stopped me. 

“Charlotte Anne. You will take this medicine now, or you can take it in three minutes with a sore butt.” 

“Dean--” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy turned to look at him. “What, Sam? She needs to take it, I'm not putting up with this. And if that means I have to swat her ass in order to get her to take it, then I will. I'm serious about this, I don't want to end up at the hospital.” 

“What?” I looked at him and then Uncle Sam anxiously. “I don't wanna go to the hospital!” 

“Then take the medicine. Your fever needs to come down, and the medicine will help.” Daddy told me. 

I took the cup and gulped the liquid down, grimacing at the nasty taste. Uncle Sam handed me the glass of water and I drank some, even though I don't really like water. 

“Can I have some juice?” I asked. 

“Sure,” Uncle Sam said, “ I'll bring you some.” he left the room. 

I scooted back down under the covers, and Daddy covered me up again. 

It seemed like every time I fell asleep, I had bad dreams, or weird dreams. I dreamed that I was in school, being chased through the halls by the wolf-creature. I dreamed that I was at the campsite, and Aunt Michelle was there, but then Daddy shot her with a gun. I dreamed that Mommy didn't leave the tent, and the creature tore through the tent walls and ate both of us. 

Each time, I woke up from the dream, crying loudly. Daddy or Uncle Sam came hurrying in to the room, and held me and comforted me until I fell back to sleep. Uncle Sam told me that sometimes when a person is sick, they have lots of weird dreams because of the high fever. 

Then I had a dream that terrified me...I could see Grandpa John, and he was in a dark room with cement walls, and he was fighting with a man who had yellow eyes. He threw water at the man, and it burned the man's skin, and he yelled, but then he started to laugh. His voice made the hair on my arms stand up. “You'll never get hold of me, Winchester,” he said, and he put his hand up and Grandpa John flew across the room, and then his body started to move up the wall, and he made a horrible choking noise. I was screaming and trying to get his attention, but neither of them could hear me. 

I woke up in the sofa in the library. “Where's Grandpa John?” I screamed. “Where is he, is he safe? There's a bad man with yellow eyes who wants to hurt him!” 

Daddy, Uncle Sam, and Uncle Bobby all stared at me. 

“Tell us everything about the dream,” Daddy said in an urgent voice. “Every detail!” 

I gulped, and took deep breaths, trying to calm down, and then I told them what I could remember. They kept asking me things that I didn't know about, where was the room, what did the man with yellow eyes look like, what was his name, what else was in the room, things I couldn't answer. 

“I don't know, I don't know!” I shook my head, and winced, because it made my neck and head hurt. 

“Anything else you can think of?” Uncle Sam asked, looking at me closely. 

“No! I'm-- I'm tired!” I whined. 

“I'm gonna see if he's been by the Roadhouse, see if Ash can track him down,” Uncle Bobby picked up his cell phone and walked out of the room. 

“All right,” Daddy said soothingly. “You did good, Charlie.” He put the thermometer in my ear again. When it beeped and he looked at it, he shook his head. “It's still high. Is it time to give her more medicine?” he asked.

Uncle Sam looked at his watch. “Not yet. A couple more hours, she can have more ibuprofen.” 

“Should we wipe her down again?” Daddy asked.

“Nooooo!” I whined. “I don't like that!” 

“All right, Charlie,” Daddy said. “I'll check you in a little while, if it's still high, we're going to have to. Lay down and rest some more.” 

I thought I wouldn't be able to sleep any more, because that dream had scared me so much, but I fell asleep quickly, even though I felt hot and uncomfortable. I started to see things, images that didn't make sense...Uncle Sam wearing a white suit, standing in a garden, but at the same time it wasn't him...Daddy chained up and hanging from something, calling out for Uncle Sam...Uncle Sam in a little dark room, tied to a bed and yelling...Daddy walking down a hallway, wearing a red shirt, holding a weird looking knife, and his eyes were gone...Uncle Bobby sitting in a wheelchair...Grandpa John being dragged across a floor, with cuts on his face...I could feel that the tears were pouring down my face, but I wasn't making any noise...

Then I saw Mommy, and she was beckoning me to come to her. She said, “Bring me back so you don't have to be part of this, you don't belong here. Bring me back and I'll take care of you forever. Bring me back, and you won't have to worry about what they do any more. They can go on with their lives and you can go on with me. We'll be together forever, and it won't matter if they get married or have other kids. Bring me back, Lottie, you know you want to.” 

I woke up shivering. The sheets felt wet, but I was sweating a lot. All my muscles and joints were hurting. Daddy was sitting, propped up at the head of my bed, asleep. I grabbed his arm and shook it. “Daddy, I'm cold,” I whimpered. 

“Hmm, Charlie?” he opened his eyes and looked at me. He put his hand on my forehead, and then sat up quickly, and checked my temperature. 

“Oh, God, baby,” he said, getting up. “I'll be right back.” He left the room, calling, “Sam? Sam! Wake up, I need your help!” 

Then he was back in the room, and Uncle Bobby followed him in.

“The sheets are soaked with sweat,” Daddy said. He went over to the dresser and took out some clothes, then he picked me up and carried me out of the room. 

“What're you doin'?” I mumbled, and then I realized he was taking me into the bathroom. Uncle Sam was kneeling by the tub. Daddy put me down on the floor, and he and Uncle Sam took my pajamas off of me, and then before I could say anything, Daddy lifted me up and put me in the water, which was barely warm! 

Uncle Sam pushed me so I was sitting down, and I screamed and burst into tears.   
“Noooo! It's coooooold!” I wailed, trying to fight against him. Daddy leaned over and began to wipe me down with a wet washcloth. 

“Daddy, stooooop!” I whined, trying to push him away. Uncle Sam held on to my arms.

“Honey, your fever is too high, we need to bring it down,” he said. “Sit still.” 

“Nooooo!” I whined again. I kicked my feet, but splashing in the water only made me feel colder. 

“Almost done,” Daddy said, squeezing the washcloth over my back. He lifted me out of the tub, and Uncle Sam wrapped me in a towel and started to dry me off. I was shaking so hard my teeth were chattering.

“Why did you do that?” I wailed. “You're mean!” 

Daddy put the thermometer in my ear again and checked it, sighing heavily. “it's down.” he said with relief. 

“Oh good,” Uncle Sam said. He picked up the clothing that Daddy had brought into the bathroom, and dressed me in clean pajamas. 

Daddy handed me a cup of medicine, and I looked at him. “Is this the yucky stuff?” I asked.

“No, it's not, but even if it was, you'd still be taking it,” he told me sternly. 

I swallowed it down, and he gave me a cup of water too, and I drank it without complaint. 

Daddy picked me up and carried me back to the bedroom, and put me back in bed. Uncle Bobby had changed the sheets and put another quilt on the bed too. 

“Did you have any more bad dreams?” Daddy asked as he tucked me into bed.

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Lots of weird stuff...Uncle Sam wearing a white suit...you had hooks in your shoulders and were screaming...there was a big hole in the ground that opened up...”

“The weirdest thing out of all of that is Sam in a white suit, that would be a nightmare,” Daddy joked. 

“It was him, but it wasn't him,” I said. 

“It was just fever dreams,” Daddy said soothingly, “It's all right.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “It's just dreams, and you're safe with us.” 

I didn't want to go back to sleep, I was too scard of having more bad dreams, but I could feel myself, my body was just too tired to stay awake. 

 

I woke up hearing loud voices talking. I thought I heard Grandpa John's deep voice in the mix, so I got out of bed and started to walk downstairs. I started to feel cold, and I got dizzy, so I walked slowly and held the railing.

“--was shadow demons,” Grandpa John was saying. “Those bastards are looking for the Colt too. I've got to find out where Elkins is holed up these days, and see if he still has it.” 

I walked into the kitchen, and Daddy, Uncle Sam, and Uncle Bobby were all standing with their backs to me, facing Grandpa John. Grandpa John saw me, and smiled. “Well, there she is!” he said.

They all turned and looked at me. 

“What are you doing out of bed?” Daddy asked, and I walked over to them. As I got closer, I could see that Grandpa John had a couple of bruises on his face, and then I saw that he had cuts on his face, exactly the way it looked in my dream. I stared up at him, feeling scared. 

“Sweetheart, what's wrong? You look like you've just seen a ghost!” he said.

“I had a dream-- you have cuts on your face just like I saw in the dream! Does that mean- are all my dreams going to come true?” I looked at Daddy, and Uncle Sam. “If it does, then both of you will get married and you will leave me out!” I burst into tears, and turned to run out of the room.


	24. Chapter 24

Daddy caught me and picked me up, “Charlie, where is all this worry coming from?” he turned around and walked back over to where everyone was standing. “I'm not going to give you up, or leave you out, or any of that. Why do you keep thinking that?”

“When Mommy got sick—at first, when she had her first couple of treatments, she was really really sick, and people had to come to the apartment to help. And I heard a couple of them talking about how-- how I shouldn't be there, that caring for me when she was so bad off was just going to be more of a burden on her, and that she should send me away to live with relatives. But we didn't have any, except Aunt Janice, and she's not really my aunt for real. So I-- I tried to be helpful and not need anything, I did stuff for Mommy and took care of her so that no one would send me away!” I started to cry harder, and I felt Daddy rubbing my back. I buried my face in his neck.

“Oh, sweetheart, I wish I had known about all that, I would have come and done whatever I could to help out.” Daddy said.

“You shouldn't have had to go through that, Charlie,” Grandpa John said. “They should have brought more people in to help out your mom, and to take care of you.” 

“I wish you hadn't overheard that, I'm sure it made you feel worse,” Uncle Sam said. “They shouldn't have been talking like that anyway. But you did a good thing, taking care of your mom the way you did.” 

“Uncle Sam is right, that's pretty amazing that you were taking care of your mom, and yourself, when she was sick like that. You know that?” Daddy stroked my cheek with his fingertip. “And now, you don't have to do that any more. We're here to take care of you, and you can just be a kid, and not worry about those things. All right?”

“And we're not going to send you away or anything like that, ever,” Uncle Sam said. “Right Dean?”

“Right, we're all a family now, and we take care of each other.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said, and I yawned.

“Let's get you back to bed,” Daddy said. “It's very late.”

Uncle Sam, and Grandpa John, and even Uncle Bobby all gave me a kiss, and Grandpa John ruffled my hair too. 

Daddy carried me back up to me room and tucked me back into bed. 

“Get some sleep, so you can get better.” he kissed my forehead and stood up. “We'll be right downstairs if you need anything, okay?” 

“'kay,” I murmured, already falling asleep.

 

I dreamed that it was when Mommy first got sick, and I heard the people talking about sending me away. Then they said they were going to give me to relatives.

“Don't I have a Daddy?” I asked. “Can't you try and find him?” I wanted them to look for Daddy. 

“No, you're going to live with your Aunt and Uncle,” a nurse said. 

“But I don't have a aunt and uncle,” I told her. 

The next thing I knew, I was living in Harry Potter's house, from the movie, and the actors who played Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were supposed to be my aunt and uncle. But there was no magic or Hogwarts or Harry Potter, they were just mean to me all the time. I lived under the stairs and cried myself to sleep every night. Then they told me that my mother had died, and that I had to stay with them. I asked if I had a father, and they said yes, but that he was married with his own family. In the dream, I ran into the back yard, to the bushes at the very end, and there was a little creature that looked like Dobby. He handed me a little book and said, “In this book is everything you can do to make your life better.” 

I sat up in my bed, completely awake. I felt better all of a sudden, my body didn't hurt, and I didn't feel hot. I felt like I had energy. I couldn't sleep, so I got out of bed and got out my backpack with all my action figures and little toys in it. I dumped it out on the floor to find all my Hello Kitty figurines, so I could play with them. They had gone all over the place when I dumped them out, so I had to crawl around looking for them. One had gone partway under the dresser. I reached my hand under the dust ruffle of the bed and touched a book, then I lifted the fabric and looked. I had forgotten about the Grimoire! 

I pulled it out, and the little creature saying, “In this book is everything you can do to make your life better” went through my head again. I opened the book up and began to flip through it. Some of the pictures scared me, there were drawing of people cutting their arms and bleeding into a pot or a bowl, and there were some scary looking devil-type of creatures on some pages. But then I found the section with spells. The writing was very fancy on the tops of the pages, and some of the words were spelled funny, but I could figure out what they were saying. I found the page that said, “To Bring the Dead Back from the Grave” and looked at that for a while. You needed a bunch of different herbs mostly, and blood. Yuck! I started to feel a little tired, so I closed the book and shoved it back under the bed. Then I collected all my Hello Kitty figurines and lined them up together so I could figure out what to play with them. 

“Charlie,” someone said quietly. I felt a hand on the back of my head. “Wake up.”

I opened my eyes. I was laying on my tummy on the floor, with my toys all spread out around me. I remembered what had happened.

Daddy was squatting on the floor next to me. “You decided to have a late night party with all your little dolls, huh? Are you feeling better?” 

“Yeah, I am,” I said, sitting up. He stood up and got the ear thermometer, and put it in my ear. When he checked it, he gave a sigh of relief. “Normal. I hope that means your fever broke during the night.” 

“What does that mean? How does a fever break?”

“It just means that the fever stops being so high, and the temperature goes back to normal,” he smoothed my hair back from my face. “Do you want to try and come downstairs for breakfast?” 

“”Yeah,” I said. 

“Clean this up, and come down, then,” he told me, and left the room. 

I started to put everything back in the back pack.

“You look like you're feeling better.”

I turned my head, and Uncle Sam was standing in the doorway. I got up and walked over to him. He leaned down and picked me up. “Good morning,” he said, and put his hand on my forehead. “No fever, that's great!” He smiled at me. “Ready to go downstairs and eat?” 

“Yes,” I said. He carried me down to the kitchen. Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby were already sitting at the table, and there was a plate of bacon and a platter of pancakes on the table too.

Daddy got me a plate, and put some food on it. 

“I thought we could go to the Zoo, in a couple of days,” he said to me. “I want to wait and make sure that you're completely well before we go out.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said.

“And the moms from the library group have decided to start having a weekly play date at that park we went to, so you have that to look forward to,” Uncle Sam smiled at me.

“I think you should take it easy today, though,” Daddy said. 

“I will.” I finished my pancakes and put one more on my plate. 

“I guess you are feeling better, your appetite's back,” Uncle Sam said. “You barely ate anything when you were sick.” 

Daddys phone rang, and he answered it, and then got up and left the room. When he was done, he came back into the room and sat down.

“You up for some pool tonight, Sammy?” he asked. “Lori's got a friend, she asked if we wanted to get together this evening.” 

“Uh...sure.” Uncle Sam said. “I thought you wanted to wait until Charlie was better before you went out again.”

“She is better,” Daddy said. “Her fever broke last night, and anyway we won't be going out until after she's in bed, it'll be fine.” 

I looked at Daddy. “I don't want you to go out,” I whined. 

“You'll be asleep, you won't even notice we're gone.” He said. 

 

He made me lay down and take a nap during the day, even though the fever was gone and I felt better. I didn't want to, and I argued with him, and he swatted my butt. I did fall asleep, so I guess I needed it.

I mostly laid around watching movies all day. After dinner, Daddy and Uncle Sam and I sat down and watched part of the first Harry Potter movie, and then I went to take a bath. When I was done, I got into my pajamas and went in search of Uncle Sam so he could brush my hair like he always did. As I came downstairs, I could hear talking in the kitchen.

“Well, I don't think you ought to be going out right now!” Grandpa John's voice sounded angry. I stood just outside the doorway, listening.

“She's shown again and again that she's feeling insecure, and every time you go out, whether it's on a date or whatever, she's going to keep feeling it. You've also got to make time for her, make sure you spend time with her every day—”

“Oh, you're a fine one to talk about that,” Daddy interrupted. “There were days that we didn't see you at all-- days, Dad. And now you're lecturing me about spending time with my kid?”

“Why do you feel the need to throw that in my face, Dean? You want to discuss what a shitty parent I was, that's fine, we'll talk later all you want, but right now we are talking about your daughter! And she needs to know that you're here for her.”

“Well, she does know that.”

“I don't think so.”

“I disagree. She knows that I love her and would do anything for her. I was by her bedside practically the whole time she was sick!”

“And Bobby told me she was half out of her head with fever and crying from bad dreams half the time. You think she remembers you sitting with her?”

“What do you want me to do, give up my whole life so I can stay home and play house-father?” 

“No, Dean, make some adjustments. That's what you've told her, now you need to make it happen. And you need to concentrate on just being a father for a little while and stop thinking with your dick.”

“All right, I'm done with the lecture from you. I don't need to hear any more of this shit. Sam! SAMMY! LET'S GO!” Daddy bellowed. 

I heard his footsteps walking, and I ran into the kitchen.

“Daddy, I thought you weren't leaving until after I was in bed,” I whined.

“Plans have changed,” he said tersely.

“But--”

“Charlie, it'll be fine,” Daddy said. He leaned down and looked me in the eyes. “You know that I love you, right?” 

“Uhh—yeah?” I said.

“Why do you sound so uncertain? Am I that much of a meany?” He reached over and tickled my side.

“No, Daddy, you're not mean!” I moved away from his hand and giggled.

“Give me a hug,” he said, and I put my arms around him. He kissed my cheek and said, “Be good for those two old coots, all right?”

“I heard that,” Uncle Bobby said, coming in to the kitchen. “Just for that, I'm giving her a double espresso and lettin' her loose in your room, after you get home tonight.” 

Daddy let me go and stood up. “Oh, you do that, and we'll be having words tomorrow, old man,” he said in a mock-stern voice, and then he and Uncle Bobby grinned at each other. Uncle Sam had came into the kitchen too.

“Show some respect, Dean,” Uncle Sam said. “Great wisdom comes with advanced age.” I walked over to him and handed him the brush, and he brushed my hair gently. 

“Well, I think the wisdom skipped this house,” Daddy said.

“Advanced age?” Grandpa John said. “I'm not that old yet, and I can still take both of you, so watch your mouths!” 

“I don't doubt it,” Uncle Sam said. He leaned down to kiss the top of my head, and handed my my brush.. “Be good, Charlie, and don't let these two 'youngsters' get you into any trouble.” 

He grinned at me. “Dean, we better get out of here before they both decide that we need our asses- I mean butts kicked.” 

“All right, let's go,” Daddy said. “Good night, Charlie.”

“I need another hug!” I said, and Daddy leaned down and hugged me and kissed the top of my head. I watched them walk down the steps and get into the Impala.

“Okay, now that they're gone, I'm gonna show you what I got,” Uncle Bobby said. He walked into the pantry and came out with a plastic bag, and set it on the counter. Then he opened the freezer and started to move containers around. He pulled out three different-sized containers out and brought them over to the table. 

“We got Neapolitan, fudge ripple, and coffee ice cream,” Uncle Bobby looked at me. “I thought we could make banana splits tonight while the boys are out.”

“Oh wow!” I said. “I've never had coffee ice cream before! Can I try it?”

Grandpa John looked at Uncle Bobby, and they grinned at each other.

“Course you can, kid,” Uncle Bobby said. He got out three big bowls, and got the bananas down from the top of the fridge. Grandpa John sliced them up while Uncle Bobby took stuff out of the plastic bag- chocolate syrup, strawberry topping, rainbow sprinkles, and whipped cream in a can. 

They dished out the ice cream and Grandpa John helped me put the toppings on mine. 

“How is it?” he asked.

“Really yummy!” I said happily. “This is a great idea!” 

“Sam told me that the two 'a you watched The Hobbit the other night,” Uncle Bobby said. “We're gonna watch the cartoon version tonight, it was on tv when I was a kid. See how you like it. Got some great music in it, too.” 

“Okay!” I smiled at him. 

“Tonight, I'd like to ask you about the dreams you had when you were sick, too, if you can remember them.” Grandpa John said. 

“O-kay,” I said, feeling uncertain. “What if I can't remember much?”

“You tell me what you can. And you know, sometimes when you talk about your dreams, more comes back to you as you're talking.” 

Uncle Bobby made a huge bowl of popcorn, and got out a package of chocolate chip cookies that he had bought, and the three of us watched the cartoon Hobbit. It was kinda different than the movie, and a lot shorter, but I liked it. I loved the part where Bilbo was telling riddles with Gollum. 

After the movie was over, I got into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, then I went to give Uncle Bobby and Grandpa John hugs. 

Grandpa John walked to my room with me, and sat down on my bed with a notebook.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, remember I have a friend, Missouri, who knows things like you do? She told me to write down some information about you, and I think it's a good idea to write down your dreams too. She wants to meet you someday.”

“She does? Is she nice?”

“Yes, she's very kind. She's the one-- she really helped me right after...Mary passed. She was a great friend to me when I really needed it.” 

I told him everything I could remember, about each dream. He looked concerned when I told him about the dream with the man with yellow eyes.

“Was this the same man that you had dreamed about before- remember, you told me about that when you had started to see Mary?” 

“Umm...” I thought about it. Then I looked at him. “Oh my gosh, I think it was the same guy!” I felt scared. “Grandpa John, is he a real person? Is he going to come after you and-- and fight you?”

“Uh, no, don't worry about it,” he said, but he wouldn't look at me for a couple of minutes after that. He asked me some questions about the dream, writing everything down that I said, and then said, “Let's move on to the dream about your Dad getting married.”

I started to tear up a little bit. “I don't-- I don't want Daddy to get married, he should have married my Mommy! Maybe things would have been different if he had!” 

“I don't think your Mom let him know about you until recently,” Grandpa John said. “It might not have made a difference, though, she might still have gotten sick and all.” 

“But then I would have met all of you sooner!”

He smiled at me and ruffled my hair. “Well, we know each other now, and that's what's important.” He leaned forward a little bit. “Listen, I don't want you to ever have doubts about this, okay? Your Dad, and Uncle Sam, and Bobby and I- we all love you a lot, kiddo, so don't let your insecurity make you think otherwise. All right?” 

“Okay,” I said, feeling shy. 

“I wasn't too sure about Dean being a father, but I think he's doing a fine job, and you're just a wonderful little girl.” He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I think Mary would be so proud of him, and of you,” he said softly, and tears came to his eyes for a moment. 

“I really am turning into a sentimental old fool,” he laughed, wiping his eyes. “Back to business,” he said. “what else did you dream about?” 

Once I told him everything, I was still feeling upset about the wedding dream. “If a dreamed about you having cuts on your face, then doesn't that mean that all the other dreams will come true too? Did the other stuff in that dream happen?”

Grandpa John got an uneasy look on his face. “Um, I don't think I should tell you what happened to me. But I will tell you this. Sometimes people do dream things that come true, and sometimes they dream things that only partially come true. Something might happen to change what the person dreamed about. You know?” 

“No, I don't get it.”

“Well, you might dream that you're going to the park the next day, but then a sudden rainstorm happens, so that changes what you had dreamed about. Understand?”

“I think so. Sometimes other things happen, that make the dreams wrong?” 

“Kind of. I think Missouri could explain it to you better.” He closed the notebook. “All right, it's time for lights out and hit the rack.”

“What's the rack?” I asked.

“It's miltary slang for bed.” he leaned down and kissed my forehead, and tucked me in. “Good night, Charlie.” 

 

It had been a busy week. Daddy and Uncle Sam and I had gone to the Zoo, and to an Aquarium, and we had been on a couple of playdates with different people. There was a woman named Miss June that Daddy had gone out with a couple of times, and she had 4-year-old twins names Hannah and Cole. We had gotten together with them at the park twice. Cole didn't like me for some reason. He wasn't mean to me, really, but he ignored me and would do little things like push me when he walked by me on the playground equipment. He really liked Daddy, and would hang all over him until his Mom shooed him away. He would ask Daddy to push him on the swings or help him on the monkey bars. 

We were sitting down at a table to eat a snack. Hannah was already there, and I sat next to her. 

“Could you open this, Dean?” Hannah held up a package of granola bars.

“Sure,” Daddy said, taking it from her. He opened it and handed it to her.

I reached over and took Daddy's hand. “Sit next to me, Daddy,” I said. 

Cole had come over and was standing on the other side of the table. “No, sit wif me, Dean,” he said. 

I looked at Cole. “He's my Daddy, so he should sit with me,” I snapped. 

“Hey, be nice,” Daddy admonished. 

Cole got onto the bench and picked up a package of granola bars and threw it at me.

“Hey!” I exclaimed, as it hit my arm.

“Cole!” Miss June said in an annoyed way. “We don't throw things at people!” 

“He sit wif me!” Cole demanded.

“I'm not going to sit down, so you two can stop bickering,” Daddy said. “Geez, I never thought I'd be so popular with the kiddie crowd.” 

Miss June smiled at him. “Why not? You're a good guy, Dean.”

Daddy blushed a little bit. “Aw, shucks, you're gonna make me blush,” he said. 

I looked at him. “You are blushing, Daddy.” I told him.

“Sorry, didn't mean to make you blush,” Miss June said.

“That's okay,” Daddy smiled at her, and she smiled back. It seemed like all they did was smile at each other. 

After we ate our snack, Miss June went to her car and got out a bag of sand toys. There was a big sand pile on one end of the playground, as we went over to play there.

Cole kept smashing my sand pile and grabbing whatever I was playing with. Finally I got annoyed, and I pushed him.

“Quit being so grabby!” I yelled. He had been squatting down, and he fell over onto his side with a yelp.

“Hey!” Daddy came hurrying over to us. “Charlie, what are you doing?”

“He-- he keeps bugging me! He leeps wrecking what I'm trying to make, and he keeps taking my shovel!” I exclaimed.

Miss June had come over. “Cole, you need to share, remember? These toys are for all our friends to play with.”

Cole sat up and brushed the sand off of his arm. “She not my fwiend.” he said stubbornly. 

“Cole!” Miss June said. “Everyone is our friend.” 

I grabbed the shovel out of his hand. “I was using that,” I snapped.

“Charlie!” Daddy said in a scolding way. “No grabbing! What's going on, have you forgotten how to act like a civilized person?” 

“Well, it's getting to be that time of day, we're going to have to go soon. Fifteen more minutes, kids, and then we have to go home for rest time.” 

“Don't wanna naaaaap,” Cole whined. 

Daddy chuckled. “I've heard that before,” he looked at me. “Are you going to behave?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said sourly. 

“Hey, you can go sit in time out over there if you're going to start with the attitude,” he told me sternly.He looked at me for a moment, then he and Miss June walked back to the bench they had been sitting on. 

Cole turned his head to watch them, then he looked at me and stuck his tongue out. I stuck my tongue out right back at him! 

“Wet's make a castle,” Hannah said to me. We started to make a big pile of sand, and she collected some sticks and rocks to put on it. “Mommy, come see our castle!” she called. 

As Miss June and Daddy were coming over, Cole stood up, and then stomped on our castle.   
“No, Cole!” Hannah screamed, standing up. She burst into tears. I stood up too, and I reached over and pushed Cole again. 

“He weckded our castle!” Hannah wailed.

“All right, Charlie, time out for pushing, for the second time,” Daddy pointed at the bench. “Go sit over there.”

“But Daddy, did you see what he did? We worked on that--”

“Yes, I saw, but you know better than to push, and you did it twice!” 

“Aww-”

“Charlotte Ann. Go.” Daddy's voice got deeper, and he frowned at me. I sighed and trudged over to the bench and sat down.

Miss June scolded Cole and then made him sit down in front of a tree in time out while she comforted Hannah.

They cleaned up the sand toys, and then everyone walked over to where I was sitting. 

“Charlie, what do you say?” Daddy asked. 

“Cole's a big meany! He kept smashing my sand down an' takin' what I was playing with! He--”

“No, Charlie, you need to apologize,” the corners of Daddy's mouth twitched.

“Sorry, Cole.” I said, staring at my feet. 

Miss June nudged Cole. “What do you say?” she prompted.

“Sowwy,” Cole said in a grumpy way. 

“All right,” Miss June sighed. “I guess we're going to go. We'll see you around.”

“Okay,” Daddy said. “Come on, Charlie.” 

I stood up and followed him to the car. He made me wait before I got in, and he brushed the sand off of my my legs and shoes. 

“I'm not happy with the way you acted today,” he told me as we left the parking lot. 

I felt myself blushing. “Cole doesn't like me! He's mean to me!”

“Well, if he does something, you come and tell me or his mom. You don't take matters into your own hands.” 

“Okay, Daddy,” I looked out the window. “You like Miss June a lot?”

“Well, I wouldn't say... a lot. I feel bad for her, she's been through some stuff. Her husband...wasn't very nice to her. She had a rough time for a while.” Daddy glanced at me in the rear view mirror. “Do you like her?”

“I guess.” 

Daddy turned on te radio and hummed along while we drove home. As we came into the kitchen, Daddy said, “I want you to take a bath tonight, you got kinda dirty playing in the sand.” 

“Okayokay,” I said. 

Daddy took my arm. “If you're going to continue to talk to me like that, then maybe you need a nap too. Is that it?”

“Noooo,” I whined. I tried to pull away from him. “Lemme go!” 

Daddy leaned down to look me in the face. “No more attitude today,” he said seriously. 

I dropped my eyes and stared at my feet. “Okay. I mean yes, Daddy.”

He straightened and let go of my arm. “Go wash your hands off, it's almost time for lunch.” 

I started to walk out of the room and Uncle Sam caught me around the waist. He was sitting at the kitchen table with some books.

“Hey,” he said, “What's up?”

“Cole's mean to me,” I told him.

“Who is Cole?”

“Well, you were kind of mean to him too,” Daddy said. 

“But he started it! He kept takin' my stuff!” 

“And like I said, you should have come and told me or his mom.” He looked at Uncle Sam. “She got put in time out for pushing, twice.” 

“Oh,” Uncle Sam looked at me and I felt myself blushing again. “That's not good.” 

“I said I was sorry!” I grumped. 

“Only after I reminded you,” Daddy said. 

Uncle Sam hugged my shoulders and let me go. “Other than that, did you have fun?”

“I guess.” I said. “Hannah is nice.” I left to go wash my hands. 

As I came back I could hear Daddy saying, “--misses her husband, and he hangs on me sometimes, so I let him. And I think Charlie doesn't like that.” 

I went back into the kitchen. “I don't like what?” I asked.

“When Cole hangs on me.” 

“I don't like it!” I frowned. “He acts like you're his dad, and you're not!” 

Daddy pulled me over to him and put his arm around me. “Well listen, his Daddy wasn't very nice, and he left them when the twins were about 2 years old and he doesn't see them that much. Cole really misses him, and little boys need to have a Dad around. So I figure if he wants to be with me, it's okay.” 

“Well, it's not okay with me!” I pulled away from Daddy.

“I don't know who you think you are, little girl,” Daddy's eyes flashed at me angrily. “But I don't have to answer to you about anything. You need to stop being so mean about that kid.”

“He's mean to me!” I exclaimed. 

“I don't want to hear it any more,” Daddy said, shaking his head. 

“Fine! Leave me alone!” I shouted, turning to leave. 

Daddy grabbed my arm. “Go sit in time out on the stairs,” he said. “No, actually, you've already been in time out once today. Go to your room. And the next time you get a consequence, it's going to be a spanking.” He let me go, and gave me a little push. “ Go on, I'll come and get you when it's lunch time.” 

I stomped up the stairs to my room, brushing tears out of my eyes. I did not like that kid, and he didn't like me either! I hoped that I didn't have to keep playing with him.


	25. Chapter 25

I got out my Hello Kitty figurines and played with them for a while. Then there was a knock on my door. Daddy came into the room.

“Has your mood improved?” he asked. 

“I guess.” I said. 

He opened his arms and said, “Come here,” and I stood up and went to hug him.

He leaned down and hugged me tightly. “I just wanted tell you that if I let other kids hang on me, it doesn't mean anything. You're my girl, and you're what's most important to me.” 

I felt tears come to my eyes. “I love you, Daddy,” I said, feeling happy that he had said that to me.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he said, and he kissed my forehead and let me go. “You hungry for lunch?” 

As we went downstairs, I could hear voices in the kitchen, and there was a voice I didn't recognize. 

There was a man standing in the kitchen with Uncle Bobby and Grandpa John. He was tall and thin with a bald head. 

“Caleb, this is my grand- daughter, Charlie,” Grandpa John said. 

Caleb grinned at him. “Well look at you, getting' all proud!” He clapped his hand on Grandpa John's back, and then leaned over and shook Daddy's hand. “I always knew you had it in ya, kid,” he said, winking at Daddy.

“Charlie, this is my old friend Caleb,” Grandpa John said. 

“Wow, she's the spittin' image of Mary, John,” Caleb said.

“That she is,” Grandpa John agreed.

“Nice to meet ya, kid,” Caleb held his hand out. 

“Nice to meet you,” I said shyly.

When our hands touched, I got an image of lots of trees and vines and green leaves, and I heard a shout and loud bangs, and saw a man with dark hair, dressed in green, dragging someone. I blinked and pulled my hand away. 

“Your gramps saved my life in 'Nam,” Caleb told me. “He's a good guy.” 

“He tied your leg off when you got shot, and you didn't lose as much blood,” I blurted out, and then I gasped and put my hand up to my mouth. 

“What the hell--” Caleb said, and I turned to run out of the room. Daddy grabbed me, and I gasped, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!” I started to cry.

Daddy squatted down in front of me. “Charlie, it's all right. Remember, we said you weren't ever going to get into trouble for that? You're not in trouble.” 

I gulped, and took a deep breath, and Daddy wiped my tears with his sleeve, then he stood up and put his arm around my shoulders. “She knows things sometimes, when she touches people. We're still figuring it out.” 

“Ah, okay. Interesting. Ya oughta take her to Missouri Mosely, an' she'll teach her how to control it an' all.” Caleb said. 

“Yeah, that's what I'd like to do,” Grandpa John said. “Well, you said this wasn't a social call, what do you need?”

“I need some herbs, and a coupla other things,” Caleb said. 

“What herbs do you need?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“Lessee, I need vervain, mugwort, and rosemary, if ya got any.” 

“Do you need fresh or dried? I've got a huge rosemary bush out back, you can cut off a branch. I cut the damn thing down to the ground every year and it comes back even bigger the next year.” Uncle Bobby said. 

“Not sure, but I'll take the fresh, I can always dry it myself.”

“I'll go out to the car, see what we have,” Uncle Sam said. “Dean, give me the keys.”

Daddy unhooked them from his belt, and tossed them to him. 

Uncle Sam left for a minute, and then came back in with a small black duffle. He put in on the table and unzipped it and began pulling out small bags, glass bottles and little boxes.

“What's all that stuff?” I asked, fascinated by everything. 

“Don't touch,” Uncle Sam admonished. “Some of this is dangerous.” 

I had started to reach out to pick something up, but I stopped when he said that. 

“All right, here's the mugwort, how much do you need?” Uncle Sam took a small cardboard box out of the duffle. Uncle Bobby brought over a ziploc baggie. 

“Are you going to be fighting witches?” I asked, unable to help myself. 

“That's on a need-to-know basis, kid,” Caleb said, “and you don't need to know nothin'.” 

“Come over here and get a grilled cheese sandwich, Charlie,” Uncle Bobby said.

Daddy steered me over to the counter and Uncle Bobby handed me a plate. 

“Thank you,” I said, and I walked over to the table, watching as Uncle Sam sorted through things that were in the duffle. Daddy sat next to me with a plate and started to eat. 

I glanced at Daddy and he was watching me watch Uncle Sam. “You stay out of that duffle,” he said in a warning tone. 

“I know, Daddy,” I huffed, and rolled my eyes. 

Uncle Bobby and Caleb left to go cut some rosemary. 

Daddy leaned over to me. “What did I tell you about attitude, little girl?” he said in a firm voice. “Watch it.” He sat up. “I don't know why you're so fascinated with witches anyway.”

“Oh come on, Dean, all kids are fascinated by witches and magic. We weren't because we knew about the reality from an early age, but they're all over popular culture.” Uncle Sam said. 

“I know, Sam, I just don't get it.” Daddy shook his head. 

“Dean, what would you say to a road trip to visit Missouri in a while?” Grandpa John asked. “I talked to her about Charlie, and she wants to meet her. I think it would be a good idea.” 

“Sure, Dad, set it up. Maybe if there's an amusement park or two on the way, we can go. We're going to have to figure out what we're doing for the fall, too.” Daddy said. “School starts in September.” 

“Where will I go?” I asked.

“I'm not sure, we need to decide if we're going to rent a place and stay put for a while, or keep traveling like we do.” 

“Well, you know my views on it,” Grandpa John said. 

“Yes, I know you don't want Charlie growing up like I did, etcetera etcetera,” Daddy rolled his eyes. “We'll see.”

“You need to decide soon, Dean,” Uncle Sam said. “If I'm going to be homeschooling her, I need to have time to test her and then order all the materials.” 

“Why don't you test her anyway? That way we'll know where she is academically and if she goes to a school, they'll have the info too.” 

“They'd test her anyway, to figure out where to put her,” Uncle Sam said. He looked at me. “How do you feel about taking some tests, Charlie?”

“I don't mind, I'm good at tests.”

“All right, I'll look some up, and we can do that over the next day or so.” 

Uncle Bobby and Caleb came back into the kitchen with a large branch.

“We don't have vervain,” Uncle Sam said apologetically. “That's hard to get, and we haven't had any for a while.”

“All right then, thanks,” Caleb said. He and Uncle Bobby and Grandpa John went into the library and closed the door. 

“I guess that means they're having a private conversation,” said Daddy. 

“Playground tomorrow, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked, packing the duffle back up. 

“Okay,” I said. “Will Cole and Hannah be there?”

“I'm not sure,” Daddy said. “Just...stay away from Cole and don't do anything to him, all right?” 

“Okay, Daddy. Can I have another sandwich?” 

“Sure, I'll make you one,” Daddy took my plate and stood up. He went over to the stove and turned the burner back on. Uncle Sam went back out to the car to put the duffle away. 

The library door opened as I was eating my second sandwich, and Uncle Bobby came into the kitchen. He started sorting through the piles of books that were piled on the side counter. “I'm pretty sure I had a grimoire around here...” he muttered. “Either of you boys seen a grimoire?” 

I started to gasp, but stopped myself, and then I choked a little bit. He must be talking about the book I had hidden under my bed!

“You okay, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked with concern as he came into the kitchen.

“Yeah, just swallowed a big bite,” I said, coughing. 

Both Daddy and Uncle Sam said they hadn't seen the book, and Uncle Bobby spent a few more minutes looking through stacks of books that were stored in various places around the house. Then he went back into the library. Shortly after, the door opened again, and the men came into the kitchen. 

“Boys, did you have plans tonight? We're going to help Caleb with something,” Grandpa John said. 

“Uh, I don't have plans, you, Dean?” Sam asked. 

“No, I don't either. How about a movie marathon, Sammy?” Daddy said. 

“Sure,” Uncle Sam agreed. 

“All right then, we'll see you tonight.” Uncle Bobby said, and Caleb shook their hands.

“Nice to meet ya, kid,” he said to me. He shook Daddy's and Uncle Sam's hands too, and then he left. 

“If you're done, come outside and I'll show ya how to weed your garden patch,” Uncle Bobby said to me. I followed him outside and he showed me what things were weeds and how to pull them up. I had bought plants that were already paritally grown for the patch he had let me dig up. 

“Do you use those herbs for cooking?” I asked, pointing over at the herb garden.

“Some,” he said. “Some are used for spells and whatnot, too. It's always good to have fresh herbs for a number of reasons.” 

We went back inside because he said he had to pack for tonight. I read another Hardy Boys book in the afternoon, and Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby left before dinnertime. Daddy made hamburgers for us, and we were all pretty quiet during dinner.

Daddy put a movie in called Die Hard that had lots of guns shooting and swearing, but I didn't pay too much attention to it, I was trying to build a hours with Legos. 

Daddy and Uncle Sam were drinking beer and another kind of drink called “doing shots” where they had to eat a slice of lemon, lick some salt, and then take a drink of alcohol out of a tiny glass. Daddy let me have a slice of lemon, but the alcohol smelled yucky and strong. 

They started talking louder than normal and laughing a lot. I wasn't really paying attention, but then I heard Daddy say, “Man, I wish I could see Lori every night. Her “full body massage” is to die for. And she's practicing this tantric thing--”

“TMI, Dean, I don't need to know about that,” Uncle Sam held his hand up and chuckled. 

“She does this thing with her hands--”

“Dean--” Uncle Sam interrupted him.

I glanced over at them and they were both looking at me. Daddy laughed. “Guess I should stop talking about that.” 

“It's about time for her to go to bed anyway,” Uncls Sam toid him.

I could hear them talking and laughing a lot after I went to bed. It took me a long time to fall asleep, because I kept thinking about Daddy going out. He liked to go on dates, and that was another thing he couldn't do because I was here. It made me feel bad.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

 

“We'll only stay for a little while,” Daddy told me. “Uncle Sam wants to do some testing with you on the computer this afternoon.” 

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. There were a lot of kids at the playground today, and I hoped that I wouldn't have to be anywhere near Cole. Hannah wanted to play with me, and she kept following me around. I got frustrated by her, because she wouldn't leave me alone, and I pushed her away from me. She tripped over her shoelace and fell down hard on her butt. She looked up at me, with surprise on her face, and started to cry. 

I saw Daddy and Miss June hurrying over. “Charlie, what do you say?” he asked in a tight voice.

“Sorry,” I said. “But she won't leave me alone!” 

“She likes you a lot,” Miss June said, hugging Hannah. 

Daddy took my wrist and led me over to the side of the playground. “Charlie, you know better than that. And you've already been in trouble for pushing Cole more than once. This is your only warning. If you put your hands on anyone else today, I will give you a spanking. You got that?”

“That's not fa--”

“You got that?” he asked again. 

I sighed. “Yes, Daddy.” He led me over to the bench. “Time out for pushing,” he said, and I sat down and pulled my legs up, resting my head on my knees. Little kids were annoying! 

After what seemed like a million years, Daddy came back over to me.“You can get up now,” He said. I stood up and he put his hand on my arm. “Remember what I said, Charlie. Keep your hands to yourself.” 

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. 

I walked away from him, keeping an eye out for Cole. Over on the other side of the big slide, some kids were getting ready to play tag, so I asked if I could too. A bunch of kids started running around, and I saw that Cole was over at the sand pile again. When I ran by, he threw a rock at me! It bounced off of my leg, 'cause he didn't throw it that hard, but it made me mad. I didn't go back over there again. 

A couple of the kids got tired of running around, and they decided to stop playing. Then a couple kids had to leave, and the rest of the kids stopped playing. I started walking around with two girls who were my age, and we decided to go down the big slide together. It was a really tall slide that curved around twice, like a curly noodle. There was always a line for it, and there were a couple of moms helping their toddlers walk up the ladder to the top of the slide. We each had a turn and then got back in line. 

I felt something pushing my back, and I turned. It was Cole. 

“Hey, get outta here,” I said to him.

“Aww, is that your little brother? He's cute,” said one of the girls.

“No way, he's not my brother. He's a little meany!” I scowled at him. “Get away from me!” I told him. He kept trying to push me out of line, nudging me with his shoulder. 

“You can't cut in line, stop!” I said. 

“He can stand in line in front of me, I don't mind,” the other little girl said.

“Here,” she motioned in front of her. “You can go before me, little boy.” 

Cole looked at her, and then stepped in front of me to stand in line.

“No, Cole,” I said with annoyance. “You can't get in front of me. Get in front of her.” 

I grabbed his shoulder. “Get out of line then.” I pulled on him, but he didn't move.

“Cole, GET OUT!” I yelled, my anger boiling over, and I yanked him backwards.

I pulled so hard, he wasn't expecting it, and he flew backwards and then fell flat on his back. His face got red, and then he opened his mouth and started to wail.

It seemed like everyone on the playground stopped and was staring. At Cole lying on the ground crying. And at me, who had put him there. I felt very bad right then.

Daddy and Miss June came hurrying over, and she knelt down next to him and gathered him up in her arms. 

Daddy's face looked thunderous. 

“I—I-- he was-- he kept pushing me, and he cutted in line in front of me!” I protested.

“What did I tell you?” Daddy folded his arms. “What did I tell you?” his voice got louder.

“Uh- keep my hands to myself.” I mumbled, staring at the ground.

“Apologize to Cole and then we're leaving.” he ground out. 

I walked over to where Miss June was holding Cole.

“Cole, I'm sorry I pushed you and all,” I said sincerely. 

Cole turned his face away and yelled, “No!” 

“He's upset,” Miss June told me.

“He's not the only one. I'm pretty upset right now too,” Daddy said. “Let's go.”

I followed him to the parking lot, hurrying to keep up with his long strides.

“I cannot believe you, little girl,” Daddy said after we got into the car. “What is going on with you? Why can't you leave that kid alone?” 

“Daddy, it wasn't me!” I protested.

“Oh, you didn't push him so hard he fell down?”

I blushed and shrank back on the seat. “Yeah, I did,” I said in a small voice.

“You weren't the one who pushed his sister earlier? And pushed him not once, but twice, the other day?” Daddy frowned at me in the rear view mirror.

“Uh...yeah.” I looked down at my hands because I couldn't keep looking at his eyes. “That was me. But he--”

“No, Charlie, I told you what would happen if you put your hands on one more person. What did I say?”

“Uh-- no more warnings.”

“And?” he prompted. 

I squirmed on the seat, feeling nervous and embarrassed. “You'd... s--spank me.” 

“That's right.”

“But Daddy, he's mean to me too!” I protested.

“That does not excuse you putting your hands on him! Little kids who have no self-control do things like pushing and hitting, not 8-year-olds. You know better than that! And--” he paused as he turned into Uncle Bobby's driveway, “I told you to tell me when he bothered you, and not take matters into your own hands. And you didn't.” He parked the car and turned it off.

As we went inside, Uncle Sam came walking into the kitchen. “Hey, I found a couple of good websites for testing--”

“Not now, Sam.” Daddy said. “Charlie's in trouble and needs to be dealt with. Go to your room, I'll be up in a minute.” he told me, pointing at the stairs.

I trudged up the stairs slowly, feeling nervous and guilty. I sat on my bed and waited. I could hear Daddy's voice talking in the kitchen, he was probably telling Uncle Sam what had happened. Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. 

There was a knock on the door and Daddy came into the room. He looked around.   
“Didn't I tell you to clean this stuff up the other day?” he gestured to the toys that were laying all over the floor. “I expect you to clean your toys up every day, Charlie, not leave them laying around everywhere.”

“Sorry,” I said quietly. 

He walked over and sat down on the bed. “Right here,” he pointed to the floor in front of him. I stood in front of him, putting my hands behind my back, and watched my toe trace a line in the rug. 

“I expect better behavior from you,” he said. “You're a smart girl, and you're mostly well behaved, and I know your mother raised you to be nice to people and not be a bully.I don't know why you're acting like this, but it stops now. You don't put your hands on anyone, and especially not on kids that are younger than you. I'm not going to put up with this type of behavior any more. I'm done with warnings for this. From now on, it will be straight to a consequence. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. Tears came to my eyes as he spoke, and I could feel a sob welling up in my chest already. I didn't want him to be upset with me like this. 

“All right then, come here.” he said, and he pulled me over to his side and placed me over his lap. I burst into tears as soon as the first swat fell. 

“I'm sorry, Daddy!” I wailed as his hand fell again and again. I struggled against his hand on my lower back, trying to get away from the stinging smacks, but he just held me down more firmly. My bottom felt like it was on fire when he stopped and pulled me to sit up in his lap. I threw my arms around him and clung to him, sobbing into his shirt. 

“S-sorry I was bad, Daddy!” I whimpered. 

“All right,” he said, rubbing my back. “I know you can behave and be good, you're my good girl,” he murmured. 

I leaned on his chest, happy to hear him say that, and to know that he wasn't upset with me any longer. 

We sat together, cuddling, until I was calm, and then he said, “Sam made sandwiches for lunch, do you want to go eat? After that he wants to test you. Are you up for that?”

“Yeah,” I sat up and cleared my throat.

“Go wash your hands and face and I'll see you downstairs.” he told me. He kissed the top of my head and I got off of his lap. 

“I don't like the crusts,” I said at the table, when we were eating. 

“How about asking nicely?” Daddy said. 

“Uh, could you cut the crusts off please?” I asked. Uncle Sam got a knife and trimmed the crusts off, and then slid the plate back in front of me.

When we were finished, he brought his laptop out to the table. He showed me the website and how to answer the questions, and then he sat and looked through a book while I took the test.

“Done,” I said. He pulled the laptop over in front of him and typed on it for a little bit, then he moved it back to me.

“Ready for another test? This one will tell us what grade level your reading skills are on.” 

“Ooh, I like reading!” I said. That test was fun, but it was hard because there were some words I didn't know. It took me longer too, because of the hard words. 

When I was finished, Uncle Sam said, “I may want you to take another one, but I want to check these scores first. I'll let you know, go play for now.” 

Daddy came into the kitchen. “How about you go clean your room up?” he said. 

“Aww, do I have to?” I almost whined.

“Yes, you do. Go on,” he said.

I went upstairs, but instead of cleaning, I started playing. I had a bunch of stuff set up on the floor when Uncle Sam came to the door. “How do you feel about one more test?” he asked. “Uh, didn't your dad tell you to clean up?”

I sat up and blushed. “Yeah...I started to play a game.” I said. 

“Well, put your stuff away and then come downstairs.” 

I started to put some of the toys away, but most of them I shoved under the bed. I put the Hello Kitty figurines on my pillow so I could keep playing with them later. Then I went downstairs to the kitchen again.

This test was harder, it was word questions that you had to think about before you answered, and there were some hard math questions. It took me a longer time, but I finally finished it. 

Daddy had started to make dinner while I was finishing, and he let me help him cook the ground beef to make meat sauce for the pasta we were going to have.

Uncle Sam did some stuff on the computer and said, “Well, Charlie is pretty much performing at above her grade level in every subject. Her reading comrephension and vocabulary is at a fifth grade level, and her math skills are above average as well.” 

“She's a smart kid,” Daddy said proudly, “But we already knew that,” he smiled at me and ruffled my hair. 

“The one test suggested she be put in the advance placement classes, for gifted students,” Uncle Sam said. “We'll have to make sure we talk to the school about that and see if they have that available.” 

Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby came back while we were eating, and joined us at the table. They said they helped Caleb “Take care of the problem,” but that's all they said. I figured thay didn't want to talk about whatever they had done, in front of me. 

“Did you see any witches?” I asked them. 

Daddy frowned at me. “Charlie, they're not going to tell you anything about it, so stop asking.” 

“But I think witches and wizards are cool!” I said.

“Witches in real life are different than they are in Harry Potter,” Uncle Sam said. “They can be dangerous in real life. That's why we don't want you knowing anything, Charlie.” 

“O—kay,” I said. I still wanted to know about them. 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

The next day we went to a different park that was near where Miss June lived. We were the only ones there. Daddy and Miss June sat on a bench underneath a big tree and talked. 

I was just starting to swing, slowly pumping my legs, when I felt something hit my back, hard, and I flew forward out of the seat and onto the ground. I landed on my hands and knees, feeling them scrape against the rough pieces of mulch that were on the ground. 

“Owww!” I hissed, not wanting to start crying like a baby, although my hands and knees were hurting really bad. 

Something heavy landed on my back, knocking me flat, and the air huffed out of me. Before I could even make a noise, my hair was pulled, so hard that my head was yanked back. I screamed in surprise and pain, and tried to turn and see what it was, but I couldn't move.

“COLE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” I heard Miss June yell. 

Then I heard footsteps and the heavy thing was lifted off of me, and then Daddy was helping me stand up. I was shaking and crying. Miss June was holding Cole in front of her, and she gave him a little shake. 

“Young man, that is totally unacceptable! You do not hurt people like that!” She dragged him over to a tree and I heard her talking to him in a low, angry voice. 

“You okay?” Daddy's green eyes searched my face with concern. “That must have been really scary for you.” 

I gulped, trying not to bawl, but then I looked down at my hands and then my knees, feeling a hot throbbing starting. The lower parts of my palms were scraped raw, and both knees had mulch stuck to them, and as I looked, dark red blood began to ooze out around the bits of mulch. 

“Owww I'm bleeeeeding!” I wailed, feeling panic starting. “It huuuuurts!” I held my hands up to Daddy.

“All right, shh, let's go over here,” Daddy bent over and slipped one hand under my knees and the other arm around my back, lifting me up and carrying me like I was a baby, over to the bench. He sat down and put me next to him. 

“Cole, you sit your butt down right there in time out! Dean, I'm so sorry about this. I'll be right back, I've got a first aid kit in the car,” Miss June hurried off.

Daddy gently brushed the mulch off of my palms, and then tried to pick the mulch off that was on my knees.

“Owwww!” I whimpered, as his fingers brushed the wounds on my legs. 

“I'm sorry, sweetheart,” he said quietly. He wiped my face off with the hem of his shirt.

Miss June set the plastic box on the bench next to me and opened it, then handed Daddy a bottle of water and some paper towels. “For rinsing her legs off,” she said.

Daddy poured some water on a paper towel and blotted my knees, and I hissed again. He was able to get all the little bits and pieces of mulch off, but my knees were both bleeding a lot. 

He took out some bandaids, but then said, “These are too small. Hold on, I've got some bigger bandages in my car, I'll be back in a moment.” He stood up. 

“Daddy!” I called out. 

“I'll be right back,” he said, as he walked to the parking lot. 

Hannah stood off to the side. “Cole is a bad boy,” she said. “He does that to me too.” 

“Well, Cole is-- is having some problems.” Miss June said. Her mouth was in a tight line. “Charlie, I'm so sorry he hurt you,” she picked up the bottle of water. “Hold your hands out and I'll rinse them off.” 

I held my hands out and she poured some of the water over the scrapes, then gently blotted them dry. 

She took one of my hands. “These don't look too bad,” she said. 

Daddy came back holding some small white packages and a tape dispenser. He ripped open the packages and took out some gauze, and taped the squares to my knees.

Then he looked at my hands. “We can put some cream on them at bedtime, it'll be hard to keep it on until then.” He cleaned up the wrappers and the paper towels, standing up to throw them away, then came back over to us. He held up a paper towel in front of my nose and said, “Blow,” and I took it from him and blew my nose and wiped my face again. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked me, putting his hand on my back. 

“It still hurts,” I said, trying not to start crying again. Tears leaked out of my eyes anyway.

“Cole, come here,” Miss June said in a stern voice. Cole stood up and walked over to us, looking sullen. 

“What do you have to say for yourself?” she asked him. He stared at the ground with a sulky look on his face. 

“Cole, tell Charlie you're sorry,” she said firmly. “Young man...” She said warningly when he didn't say anything. 

“Sow--wy,” Cole said in a bratty tone. 

“You are in a lot of trouble,” she told him. “Charlie, I'm really sorry.” She looked at me and gave me a sad smile. 

Daddy brushed my hair back from my face. “What do you want to do? I imagine you don't feel like playing much any more, huh?”

I shook my head, trying to make myself stop crying.

“All right. I guess we're going to go,” Daddy said to Miss June. “ Come on, Charlie.”

I stood up and winced as my legs straightened out. He bent down and picked me up, and carried me to the car. 

“Geez, that kid...I hate to say this, because I think that June needs friends more than anything, but I don't think it's such a good idea that you play with him anymore.” Daddy said after he had started driving. He looked at me in the rear view mirror. “Would you like to stop for ice cream?” he asked me.

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. I still felt shaky. We stopped at a roadside stand that sold ice cream and Daddy carried me over to a table, then went and got our ice cream cones. He brought them back and sat next to me. 

“How are your knees?” he asked.

“They still hurt,” I told him.

“I'll look them over before you go to bed tonight.” he said. “It'll be okay.” 

I ate some of my ice cream and turned the cone.

“You were very brave, and you didn't cry a lot. I'm proud of you.” he told me.

“See, I told you Cole doesn't like me. He does stuff like that a lot.” I glanced up at Daddy, and he frowned.

“What do you mean, he does stuff like that a lot?”

“He pushes me and stuff. When he walks by, he'll push me or he'll throw a rock at me or something.” I licked the side of my cone. 

“Charlie, why didn't you tell me he was doing all that?” Daddy asked in a concerned voice. 

“ 'Cause you told me not to be mean about him. And I thought you would think I was just being mean and trying to get him in trouble.” 

Daddy sighed. “No, sweetheart...if someone is doing things to hurt you, I need to know, okay? And if I don't listen, for whatever reason, then you tell Uncle Sam or someone else. All right?”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. 

He looked at me and smoothed my hair back from my face. “I don't want you to not tell me things because you're worried about getting into trouble. Especially if it's something like someone hurting you. Promise?” 

“I will,” I agreed. 

Daddy's phone rang and he answered it. “Hello? Oh, hi...” he glanced at me. “She's okay. We stopped for ice cream.” He chuckled. “Yeah, it does make everything better. I know...well, listen, I know you told me about him, but...I don't think he and Charlie should be around each other any more. It's just too...I know, I understand. I'm sorry. It's just...my daughter's safety is impor—no, I'm not saying that. I'm not! Well, I'm sorry too. Okay then.” he disconnected the call and looked at me, sighing. 

“Well, that's one less friend. I think I upset her. She told me today day that Cole is having problems with being...violent, and I feel for her and the kid, but...it's more important that you're safe.” he brushed my hair out of my eyes. “I wouldn't be comfortable letting you play with him and knowing that he could hurt you at any moment. Like he did today, or even worse.” 

He sighed again. “She needs friends right now, but she's not going to have any if she can't hear what people are saying about her kid.” He looked down at me. “Boy this having friends stuff is hard to deal with sometimes, isn't it?”

 

That night, during dinner, Miss June called Daddy and asked if they could get together and talk. “She's upset,” Daddy told us. “She's having a rough time with Cole and needs a shoulder to lean on right now.” 

I hoped that that didn't mean that they were going to start spending more time together.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KelseyLynnF, ClaireNovakspn2020, Molli3, Daisycupcake811, and guests that have left kudos- Thank You!  
> Andi4, SuzyQ, and KelseyLynnF, Thank You for taking the time to leave me reviews- it means a lot to me!   
> *******************  
> Our Charlie Girl gets in Big Trouble in this chapter...

I was practicing being a spy. I had read through most of the Hardy Boys books, and all of the Encyclopedia Brown (boy detective) books, and I had learned about spying. There was one Hardy Boys book where they got involved with spying on a businessman, to find out if he was doing illegal things. And there were a couple of Encyclopedia Brown stories about him practicing being a spy, with some suggestions on how to do things like sneak around. I practiced tiptoe-ing through the house and I paid attention to which floorboards were creaky in different rooms and on the stairs. I had started to look through things in the house, like the drawers in the kitchen. 

 

The men were all busy with a case, they had a big map spread out all the time and they would make me leave the room a lot so they could talk. I tried to sneak and listen in, but Uncle Sam had caught me eavesdropping and had given me a couple swats, with the threat of a spanking if I did it again. I thought I heard one of them say the word 'vampire' but I didn't want to ask, because that would be admitting that I had been listening in, and then that would mean a spanking for sure. But I also saw Daddy carving pieces of wood so that they were sharp on one end like a point. 

Almost every night, Daddy got a call from Miss June and talked to her for a long time, or he went and met her for coffee. He said that she needed support and a listening ear, and that's what he was trying to be. Cole had hurt a couple of other kids and she had gotten kicked out of her kid's playgroup because of it. She was trying to find a doctor for Cole but was having trouble. She was upset a lot. 

Because they were so busy with this case, we didn't go out to the playground as much. They looked stuff up on the computers and talked to other hunters on the phone a lot and had conference calls. I couldn't be in the library when they did that either. Daddy had put all of the Legos in my room, so I could play with them there. I had started to build a house out of Legos for my Hello Kitty figurines, because I missed my dollhouse.

 

“Charlie, come down here,” Daddy called up the stairs. 

I went down to the kitchen. He and Uncle Sam were packing a duffle. 

“We need to go, Charlie,” Daddy told me, “We got a call from a hunter friend who needs our help.”

“But- who's going to be here with me?” I asked.

“Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby will be here tonight. I expect you to behave for them, you hear me?”

“Yes, Daddy,” I said, “Where are you going? Will you be gone a long time?” 

He looked uncomfortable. “We should be back tomorrow or the next day at the latest. It will be fine.” 

“I don't want you to go!” I whined. 

“This should be quick,” Uncle Sam said, “Quick and easy,” he smiled at me, “Don't worry, Charlie.”

Grandpa John came into the kitchen as Uncle Sam was hugging me. He let me go, and then Daddy leaned down to hug and kiss me. I clung to him. 

“Don't go!” I pleaded.

“Let go, Charlie, the sooner we leave and take care of this, the sooner we'll be back,” Daddy said. I let go of him and stepped back, tears filling my eyes. 

Grandpa John put his hand on my shoulder as Daddy and Uncle Sam left. “They'll be fine,” he said. He and Uncle Bobby took me out to eat that night, and then they let me stay up late watching the first Harry Potter movie. I woke up when Grandpa John was tucking me into bed. 

 

The next morning, he got a call from Daddy, and he had to leave to help them. I know that he felt bad, and Uncle Bobby felt bad when I cried. I stayed in my room for a long time. Uncle Bobby was nice and all, but I could tell he wasn't used to having kids around, much less a girl. He took me out to the diner for dinner again, didn't make me eat all of my dinner, and let me get a chocolate milkshake and an ice cream sundae. 

 

I was almost asleep when I heard voices downstairs, more than one. They were home! I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs to the kitchen.

“You doin' okay, Sammy?” I heard Daddy ask. 

I walked into the room- Uncle Sam was sitting at the table with his shirt off, and Daddy was sitting in front of him sewing up a cut on his arm! 

“What happened?” I squeaked, scared of all the blood.

Everyone looked at me. “Charlie,” Daddy said uncomfortably, “Go back to bed.” 

“How did Uncle Sam get hurt?” I asked, walked over to them. 

“Charlie, did you hear me?” Daddy said, and his voice was stern. 

“Dean, she's scared,” Uncle Sam said, “It's okay, honey, your dad's going to stitch me up and I'll be good as new,” he smiled at me. 

Daddy sighed, and turned to me. “Come here,” he said. I went to him and he hugged me. He smelled like pine trees and smoke. 

“Were you outside?” I asked him.

“For part of the time,” he told me. He let me go, and then patted my bottom. “Go on back to bed now.”

Grandpa John had come into the room. “What are you doing up, little one?” he asked. 

“I heard your voices,” I said. 

“Let's get you back to bed,” he said, holding out his hand. I took it and we walked back to my room.

“Have you ever gotten hurt before on a hunt?” I asked him as I got into bed.

“Well...yes, I have,” He sat down on the edge of the bed. 

“Has Daddy?”

“Yes.” 

“Hurt bad? Needed stitches like Uncle Sam?” 

“Well...yes, Charlie, but I don't want that to scare you. It's part of the job, sometimes people get hurt.”

“I don't like it! I don't want any of you to get hurt!” Tears filled my eyes. 

“I know, darlin', but you just have to trust that we know what we're doing, and we all know how to take care of each other when we do get hurt. Lots of people have the risk of getting hurt on the job, they just don't talk about it or think about it,” he smoothed my hair back from my face, “You need to go back to sleep.”

“I don't want to!” I grumped. 

“Lay down and I'll rub your back,” he said. I laid down and rolled over, and he hummed softly as he rubbed my back. I tried not to worry, but I couldn't help it. What if Daddy got badly hurt on a hunt? What if Uncle Sam did? What if they both got hurt? What if they died? What would happen to me? 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

I had everything set up- circle drawn in the dirt, candle lit, herbs in the bowl- all I needed to add was my blood. I was too scared to cut myself, though, and no matter how much I tried to do it, I couldn't.

Because everyone had been so busy, they hadn't noticed me much. I had been able to sneak around and gather what I needed for doing this spell. I was going to bring my mommy back, and then she would take care of me. I had found some little candle stubs in a drawer in the dining room, a box of matches in the kitchen, and I had even been able to sneak into the trunk of Daddy's car for the herbs that were needed. I had drawn what the circle was supposed to look like on a piece of paper and written down the words to say, and brought that outside with me. 

I looked down at my scabby knees. I could get blood from there—I picked at my right knee, gasping because it still hurt. The blood welled up and I put my finger on it--  
and I was yanked up and backwards. 

“What the- what in the holy hell, kid?” Uncle Bobby had grabbed the back collar of my pajama top and pulled me up to a standing position. He stared down at everything.   
“What in the name of blazes are you doin'?” he hollered. He leaned over and blew the candles out, then kicked through the side of the circle.

He grabbed my upper arm and started pulling me with him. “C'mon, kid,” he said in a clipped voice.  
“Oww, Uncle Bobby,” I whined.

“Don't you 'ow' me, little girl,” he said gruffly.

We walked into the kitchen and he pulled a chair out from the table and pushed me into it. “Sit your hindquarters down and don't move a muscle,” he said.

He went to the foot of the stairs. “Hey Dean! Sam! John! Winchesters! Wake up and get the hell down here!” 

They came downstairs, bleary eyed and yawning. 

“We got a problem,” Uncle Bobby said to them as they walked in.

Daddy looked from Bobby to me. “What's up?”

“I caught this one outside doin' some kind of spell,” Uncle Bobby said. He turned to me. “Stay right there,” he said. He led them all outside, and they were back in a couple of minutes with the bowl, knife, candles, and paper. 

They stood there looking at me silently, for a long moment. Uncle Sam had the bowl and he was looking through it. He crumbled one of the dried herbs and smelled it. 

Uncle Bobby went to a cabinet and got out a small bottle of water. He handed it to Daddy.

Daddy said “Christo.” They were all watching me.

I looked at him. “Wh-what's that mean?”

Then he cupped his hand and poured a little bit of water in it, and then threw it at my face! 

“Hey!” I complained, “Why'd you do that!”

Uncle Bobby handed me a dish towel, and I wiped my face off.

“All right, kid, start talking,” Daddy said in a hard voice. 

“I was, uh, I was trying to do a, uh, a spell...for my mom,” I said, shrinking down.

“What does that mean?” Daddy asked tightly.

“Uh, to, uh, bring her back.” 

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Daddy said, “You were trying to perform a spell to bring your mother back from the dead? First off, why, and secondly, where did you even get these supplies and everything?”

“Because you- you'd be better off without me here! You can't do your hunting like you used to! That's what your life is!”

“What? Where did you get all that? Have I ever said any of those things? And is that your decision to make? No!” he shook his head.

“Where did you get the supplies and the information on the spell?” Uncle Sam said in a hard voice. I looked up at him, he looked angry, but it was that quiet angry. Uh-oh.

“I, uh, got some plants from the back yard, and uh, there was a book I found in the library, and I got the candles from the dining room, and, uh, I, um, went in the trunk... of the car,” I bowed my head.

“YOU WENT IN THE TRUNK OF THE CAR?” Daddy exploded.

“Where is the book?” Uncle Bobby asked, “Which one?”

“It's in my room,” I said. “The, um, the black grimoire.”

He and Grandpa John left the room and I heard their footsteps on the stairs. 

Daddy paced back and forth, “I cannot believe this, little girl... What were you thinking?”

“Mommy said if I brought her back she'd take care of me!” I exclaimed, “She said I didn't belong here, and that she'd take care of me forever!” I started to cry. 

“When did she say this, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked.

“When I was sick, an' havin' all those dreams! She said that you two can go on with your lives and it-- it wouldn't matter if you got married or anything, cause I'd be with her!”

Daddy squatted down in front of me. “Charlie, those dreams you were having were because you were sick. We told you that. Your dreams get weird when you have a fever.” 

“But-- but I had the dream about Grandpa John getting cuts on his face, and he- he did!” I looked from Daddy to Uncle Sam, “What if me having dreams that come true is part of my powers? What if-- the rest of what I dreamed is gonna come true, and you both-- you both get married and there's no room for me? Then I'll be all alone!” I wailed, and started to cry harder. 

Daddy leaned forward and hugged me, stroking my back and shushing me.   
“You're not going to be alone, Charlie. We're not going to leave you or make you go away. When are you going to believe that?” he pulled back and looked at me, “This is because you miss your mom, isn't it?”

I nodded, and started to sob again. Daddy hugged me tightly. 

We heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Daddy let me go and handed me a paper towel so I could wipe my face and blow my nose.

I looked up at Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby coming in. They both looked serious. I gulped, because I saw that Uncle Bobby had his grimoire, but he was also holding the little spellbook I had stolen.

“This one's mine, it's the book I was lookin' for recently, but I don't know about this, I ain't never seen it,” Uncle Bobby said, holding up the small book.

“Charlotte? Where did this come from?” Daddy asked sternly. He took the book from Uncle Bobby and flipped through it.

“ I, uh, when I went to that book store with Grandpa John, I found it and...I took it,” I said, squirming uncomfortably. I knew that stealing was wrong, and I had taken the book anyway.

All four of them said, “What?” in angry voices.

“You stole a book?” Uncle Sam shook his head, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. “This is-- I can't believe this!” 

Daddy looked at them. He jerked his head to the side. “Let's go talk again,” he said. 

He pointed at me. “Stay there,” he said tersely.

They left the room, and I could hear them talking in low voices. They were gone for several minutes, then they came back. All of them looked stern and frowny.

“I'm too angry to deal with this tonight,” Daddy told me. “So we're going to talk about this and...deal with things in the morning.”

I gulped. “Am I—am I in trouble?”

“Well, considering that you broke several rules, yes, you are,” Daddy told me, “Come on,” he beckoned to me, “You're sleeping in my bed.” 

“Why?”

“Because I feel like I can't trust you right now and I want to keep an eye on you,” he said.

I got up and followed him upstairs to his room. 

“Get in bed,” he waved at his bed. I climbed in and looked at him, expecting him to tuck me in.

Instead he sat down in the armchair across from the bed. 

“What—what do you mean, you can't trust me?” I asked. 

“We'll talk about it in the morning,” he said in a clipped voice, “Lay down and go to sleep.”

“But Daddy...are you mad at me?” I asked hesitantly. 

He looked at me, as if he was considering something. “I'm...angry, yes, and upset, and disappointed, and...hurt.” 

I felt surprised. I could understand angry and disappointed, but hurt? My eyes filled with tears. “I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't mean to hurt you--”

“We'll talk in the morning. Lay down now,” he interrupted me.

“Daddy--” 

“No, Charlotte. Go to sleep.”

I laid down, sniffling, and closed my eyes. I felt very upset, and my feelings were all jumbled up inside. I opened my eyes and looked over at Daddy. He was sitting in the armchair, his elbows on his knees, with his hands clasped together, and his head was down. I heard him sigh heavily. I rolled over and closed my eyes and tried to sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up- Charlie gets a pretty harsh spanking in this chapter because of all the rules she broke.  
> ********************

I had a restless night, I kept waking up. Daddy was next to me in bed, facing away from me, and I would curl up against his back and try to fall back to sleep. 

I woke up and turned my head. He was on his back, eyes closed. I sat up and started to move to get out of bed, and he opened his eyes and grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?” his voice sounded rough.

“I, uh, I hafta go pee,” I said. 

He let me go, and sat up when I got off of the bed. “I'm not leaving you alone right now. Someone needs to be with you at all times, and you need to tell me what you're doing.” 

“Wh- why?” I asked, confused. 

“Because I can't trust you, little girl!” he barked, and I could see that he was still angry. 

He sighed and stood up. “Let's go.”

He followed me to the bathroom and stood outside while I did my business and washed my hands. I looked up at him when I opened the door.

“Downstairs,” he said, “Let's get this show on the road, we've got a lot of ground to cover.” 

I followed him down to the kitchen. “Sit,” he said, motioning to the table. I sat down, and he went over to the coffeemaker and poured himself a mug of coffee. 

Uncle Sam came out of the library, holding my bag with all my drawing supplies in it, and my 3DS. He put them on the table. 

“What are you doing?” I asked. 

“You're not allowed in the library,” Uncle Sam said. 

Tears came to my eyes. “No fair!” I protested, “I love books!” 

“You took a book out of the library, after you were told not to touch any of them, not only did you take a book, you then lied because it was a book that Bobby needed, and you used that book to try and perform a spell!” Daddy's voice was sharp. 

I shrank down in my chair. “I didn't lie!” I exclaimed, feeling nervous.

“You were in the room when he said he was looking for it,” Uncle Sam said, “You knew you had it, and you didn't say anything. That is exactly what a lie of omission is.” 

I felt my face getting red. “It's not a real lie!” I blinked my tears back.

“It's close enough,” Daddy said, coming over to stand in front of me.

Uncle Sam went over to the counter and got himself some coffee. “Are you hungry?” he asked me. 

I shook my head. 

“We need to deal with last night, food can wait,” Daddy said in a hard voice. 

Uncle Sam came over and sat at the table. 

Daddy put his mug on the counter and came back over to stand in front of me. “Charlie, do you have any idea how dangerous what you did last night was?” His green eyes were dark and intense. 

“I—uh--I thought it would be like in Harry Potter, you know?” I said hesitantly. 

“No more Harry Potter right now, if it's going to be giving you ideas like this,” Daddy sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment.

“That's not fair! Those are my favorites!” I stood up, clenching my fists. Angry tears came to my eyes now, and I swiped at my face.

“Sit your ass down, it's more than fair,” Daddy growled, “Do you realize what you did? You were trying to perform a spell, to raise someone from the dead, with absolutely NO knowledge of magic or witch-craft!” his voice got louder.

“I- I followed the directions--” I said.

“You just don't get it, do you? You CANNOT do things like that casually! You have to be a practitioner of that type of magic to even attempt a spell! And one litte thing goes wrong, one sigil drawn incorrectly, one syllable of one word mis-pronounced, one of the herbs measured in the wrong quantity, and the spell could have gone awry, and something really bad could have happened,” he was yelling now, “You could have –have summoned a demon, for God's sake!” 

I flinched when he said that, and more tears came to my eyes and spilled over.“I'm sorry, Daddy, I--”

“Saying you're sorry means nothing, little girl. You have no idea of the magnitude of this screw-up. I am stunned that you would do this, stunned, and I feel like-- I feel like I can't trust you at all!” he walked back over to the counter and took a drink of coffee. 

“I am sorry!” I said, looking at him and then Uncle Sam. 

“You don't realize how big this is, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said, “Raising someone from the dead is serious magic. Where did you even get the idea from?” 

“When we were in the hotel room, and I was dreaming about Mommy. When you guys were talking about witches, I had a dream that Mommy and Aunt Michelle were there, and a witch-lady, and she said I could find a special book called a grimmer and get a spell to bring Mommy back.” 

“What?” Daddy turned and stared at me. 

“And- and she said that everything I needed would be in the back of your car.” 

“What did the witch lady look like?” Uncle Sam asked.

“She had blonde hair and she wore a suit kinda like Aunt Michelle's but not as fancy, it was tan colored.”

“Son of a bitch,” Daddy said under his breath. 

“Dean, do you think--” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy leaned on the counter. “Yeah, I do. Son of a bitch,” he repeated, “Screwing with things even after she's gone.” 

“What do you mean?” I looked at Daddy and then Uncle Sam. 

“Nothing, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said, “You don't need to--”

“If it's about me, yeah, I do need to know!” I yelled, suddenly angry. I was tired of them always telling me I didn't need to know things! I clenched my fist and pounded the table. 

“Excuse me, little girl, you are in no position to be making demands here!” Daddy snapped. “Lose the attitude!” 

“It's not fair—”

“You still aren't getting it, are you?” Daddy said, “You think that because you've read a couple of kid's books about magic and you had a dream, you can open a book of magic and perform one of the most powerful spells there is? You are a child, a little girl, and things could have gone horribly wrong! You could have summoned something really dangerous! You could have died, or caused one of us to if we tried to stop things in the middle of it!” 

I burst into tears and shrank down in my chair, covering my face with my hands. “I'm sorry!” I wailed, “I'm sorry I did it, I didn't know! I didn't know!”

“Why didn't you talk to us?” Uncle Sam asked, “Why didn't you tell us about that dream?” 

“I don't know!” I sobbed, “I guess I thought-- I thought you might stop me.” I said quietly. 

“So you were thinking about it even back then?” Daddy asked tightly, “And you knew that if you told us we might try and stop you?” he closed his eyes and shook his head. “This is unbelieveable.” 

“Charlie, you mom is gone, and you can't bring her back. I know it hurts, but you've got to face up to that.” Uncle Sam said, “You can't do anything to really bring her back.” 

“SHUT UP!” I screamed, jumping off the chair and running at him. I swung my fists at him, and he caught my wrists, and pulled me into a tight hug. I squirmed against him, still trying to hit him, but it didn't do anything, because he was a brick wall just like Daddy. 

“She's gone, and you have to let the idea go that you can bring her back.”

“NOOOOO!” I howled, bursting into tears. I sagged against Uncle Sam, suddenly feeling the pain well up in my chest, that pain that I'd been trying to keep down all this time. He kept his arms around me and rocked me a little bit as I bawled. She was gone, my mommy was gone, and all that was left was a plastic box filled with ashes. 

“We're here with you,” Uncle Sam said, when my crying had finally slowed down, “We're here with you and you're not alone, and we're going to take care of you. You still have a family, and it's going to be okay.” He handed me a napkin, and I blew my nose. I went through a couple more napkins, and then I leaned on his chest, feeling worn out.

“I think you've been holding that in for a long time,” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy was sitting in the chair next to him. “Come here, baby girl,” he said, and I went over to him, and he pulled me onto his lap and hugged me, “I'm sorry you've had to go through this. Losing your mom is a really hard thing to deal with.”

I remembered then that he had lost his mommy too. “Do you still feel sad?” I asked him, “Do you still miss your mom?”

“Sometimes,” Daddy said, “I think there will always be a part of me that feels sad about it, but you learn to deal with is as you get older.” 

“I'm sorry,” I said, “I shouldn't have tried to do a spell, I understand it was wrong now.” I looked up at Daddy. “Am I still in trouble?” 

“Yes, Charlie,” Daddy said, “Besides the spell, you broke several rules.” 

I swallowed, feeling my stomach twist nervously. “Oh, yeah,” I said in a small voice. I had done a lot of stuff I wasn't supposed to. 

“Why don't you tell me which rules you broke,” he said. 

“Do I have to?” I squirmed with embarassment. 

“Yes, Charlie,” he said, “I want to make sure you know exactly what you did wrong.” 

“Well, I, uh, took a book out of the library, and I'm not s'posed to touch anything in there. And, I, uh, I went in the trunk of the car and got stuff out of there, and I'm not allowed in the trunk.” I looked down at my hands.

“You also took a weapon out,” Uncle Sam said, “You had a knife, and you're not allowed to touch any weapons, are you?” 

I blushed. “No,” I sighed, “I, uh, lit candles, and I'm not s'posed to play with matches.”

“Where did you get the candles?” Daddy asked, “and the matches?”

“Um, the candles were from Uncle Bobby's dining room, and I found the matches in the kitchen.” 

“How did you find them?” Uncle Sam asked.

I felt my blush deepen. “I was, uh, looking around in drawers and stuff,” I said. 

“What else?” Daddy prompted.

“I, uh, went into the salvage yard, and I, uh, snuck out in the middle of the night to do the spell.” 

“What else?” Uncle Sam looked at me.

“Umm...” I couldn't think of anything else.

“You stole a book from a store,” he reminded me. “I cannot believe you did that, Charlie.” he shook his head. 

Tears came to my eyes. “I know it was wrong,” I said, and my voice shook.

“Then why did you do it?” Daddy asked. 

“ 'Cause I wanted to do a spell,” I said in a quiet voice. 

“You hid all this from us,” Daddy said. “Which is like lying.”

The tears spilled over. “I'm sorry, Daddy,” I said. 

“You're going to be writing lines as part of your punishment,” Uncle Sam told me. “I'll get that set up later today.” 

“O—okay,” I wiped my face with my hand. “Uh—part of—my punishment?” 

“You're also getting a spanking,” Daddy said. “Do you want to get it over with now, or wait until after breakfast?”

My stomach twisted into an anxious knot. “I don't think I could eat anything right now,” I told him.

“All right then, let's go,” he patted the side of me leg, and I stood up. “Up to your room,” he said. 

My room was messy, like someone had gone through it. 

“Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby were looking for the grimoire, remember?” Daddy said. “You need to clean everything up. I told you I wanted you to put your toys away every day, didn't I? Grandpa John told me that there were a bunch of your toys just shoved under the bed.” 

I blushed. “Sorry, Daddy,” I said quietly.

“Well, if you're not going do what I tell you and clean up after yourself, then maybe I should take them away.”

“No, I'll clean up. I will,” I said. 

Daddy sat down on the edge of the bed and beckoned to me. “Come here,” he said. I walked slowly over to him, and then he pulled me over to his side. He turned me over his lap, and his hand began to fall. I tried not to squirm or make any noise, but I couldn't help it. I started crying right away and trying to get off his lap.

“Settle down, you're not going anywhere,” he told me, and he moved his leg over top of mine. 

“I'm sorry, Daddy! I'm sorry!” I pleaded as I sobbed. It felt like he had spanked every inch of my butt, and then I felt him pulling my pajama bottoms down. 

I tried to push my body up off of the bed. “No, Daddy, what are you—” I exclaimed. 

He pulled me closer to him and put his arm over my back to hold me still.   
“You will not go into the salvage yard ever again,” he said sternly. He swatted my panty-clad bottom twice, and I flinched and cried out, because it did hurt more without my p.j. pants. 

“You will not go into the trunk of the car,” another swat landed, “or touch a weapon unless you've been trained to,” two more stinging swats fell, and I kicked my feet and cried out again. 

“You will not take books out of the library,” he spanked me again, “And you will not take things that do not belong to you.” Two more smacks landed, and I flinched again. 

He slid my panties off of my stinging butt, and shifted slightly. I wailed in panic. “Noooo, Daddyyyyy--” and then I gasped as he spanked my bare butt. It hurt a lot more, and I squirmed on his lap. 

“You will NOT play with MATCHES,” he said in a firm, loud voice, and he swatted me three more times. 

“You will NEVER steal from a store, EVER AGAIN,” and his hand fell three times again, on the lower part of my butt, and I wailed again. 

“You will NOT lie to me,” he said sternly, and three more hard smacks fell.

“And you will NEVER, EVER, do ANYTHING with magic or spells, EVER AGAIN.” Four very hard swats landed right on the lowest part of my butt where you sit down. 

“IS THAT CLEAR?” His voice was loud in the little room. 

“Yes! Yes, Daddy!” I sobbed, and then his hand began to fall again, peppering my already hot rear end with more hard swats, until it felt like my butt was on fire. I kicked my feet and howled and struggled, but it did no good. I buried my head in the quilt and cried.

It took a few moments to realize that the spanking was over, because of how much my bottom stung. He let me cry there over his knees for a few more moments, then he pulled my panties up, and lifted me to stand up in front of him. He gathered me into his arms and held me as I bawled into his flannel, and I felt him rubbing my back up and down as my shoulders shook. 

“I don't want to have to spank you like that again,” he said quietly, “Don't you ever do something like that ever again.” 

“No, Daddy, I won't.” I sniffled. I was exhausted, after having cried twice now, and I yawned. 

“Do you want to lay down for a while?” Daddy asked. 

“Mm-hmm.” I murmured. He helped me lay down in bed, on my tummy, and then he sat next to me and kept rubbing my back until I fell asleep. 

When I woke up, my stomach was growling with hunger. I rolled over and sat up, and winced a little. Daddy was sitting in the armchair with a laptop on his lap. He closed it and stood up, putting it on the dresser. 

“How are you feeling?” he asked, coming over to the bed. 

“I'm hungry,” I said.

“We missed breakfast, but it's lunch time. I hear people downstairs, let's go see what they're making,” he said. “Get dressed,” He handed me a shirt and shorts.

I stood up, and put the clothes on, easing the shorts over my slightly sore butt, and he said, “Charlie, I want you to apologize to Uncle Bobby for breaking his rules.” 

“Aww, do I have to?” I whined. 

“Yes, you do,” he said sternly. 

“Okaaay.” I said. We went downstairs together. 

Uncle Bobby was standing at the stove, stirring a pot. Daddy put his hand on my shoulder and steered me over to him.

“Uh, Uncle Bobby, I want to apologize for, um, taking the book out of the library and, uh, going in the salvage yard and umm...taking your candles and matches. I'm sorry,” I said, and my eyes filled with tears. 

He looked down at me. “Make sure none a' that happens again,” he said gruffly. “I need to know you're gonna be safe in my house. You're too damn smart for your own good, kid,” he reached out and ruffled my hair. 

Uncle Sam was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop open. I went over to him and he put his arm around me and hugged me. 

“Sorry I was hitting you before,” I said quietly.

“It's all right, honey,” he said. “I know you were upset. We'll go over your lines after lunch.”

“Do I have to?” I whined. 

“Yes, you do,” Uncle Sam said firmly. 

Grandpa John came into the room. “Well, it's all set up. I think it will take us 2 or 3 days to get there, when do you want to go?” He was looking at Daddy.

I turned to look at Daddy too. “You- you're leaving again?” I asked. Tears came to my eyes. “Where--”

“No, Charlie, we're all going,” Grandpa John said. He sat down at the table and beckoned me over to him. He put his arm around my shoulders and looked at me. “We're going to go on a road trip to visit my friend Missouri, and she's going to help you with your-- what you can do. And we're going to see if we can find some interesting places to stop while we're traveling.” 

“Okay,” I said. I looked up at him, feeling uncertain. “Are you-- are you mad at me 'cause of last night?” 

“No, sweetheart, I was more worried about you. I know better than anyone that grief can—can make a person do bad things, or things that they would never have done before. And if it's not dealt with, grief can make things—very hard. You can always come talk to me, about anything, you know that?” He hugged me, and said, “I don't want anything bad to happen to my only grand-daughter.” 

“We can leave in a day or so, what do you think, Charlie?” Daddy asked. 

“Can we go to a 'musement park?” I asked. 

“Sure, we can look for one on the way,” Grandpa John said. 

Uncle Bobby had made beef stew for lunch, and we all sat down at the table to eat. Looking at them, I realized that being here with them was the first time that I had ever sat down for meals with a 'real' family. Before it had been just me and mom, and then when she got sick, we didn't really eat together anymore because she was either too sick to eat or asleep, and I just ate something by myself. It was nice to have a dad and uncles and grandfather. 

After we ate, Daddy said I should clean up my room, and that we should do laundry and pack if we were going on a road trip. Uncle Sam went upstairs with me to “supervise”, he said. He checked under my bed to make sure there weren't any toys under there. 

“Decide what you want to bring with you, I don't know if you need to bring that whole backpack full of toys,” he said. 

“But they're all little, and I can take them anywhere in my pockets and stuff!” I explained. 

“Well, all right, but just remember, you're going to have to clean up everything after you play with it. Our Dad had a strict rule on the road, that there were no messes left in motel rooms. Our bags had to be packed and ready at all times, and we couldn't leave clothes or toys laying around. We got in trouble if we weren't neat.” Uncle Sam told me. 

“Is- is he gonna do that this time?” I asked hesitantly. 

Uncle Sam chuckled. “I think he's mellowed some since then, but it is a good idea not to have all your stuff spread all over a motel room.” 

Daddy came to the door of my room. “Charlie, I don't want you bringing that whole backpack full of all those little toys. Too much risk of those things getting lost on the road or left behind.”

“We were just talking about that,” Uncle Sam told him with a grin. “I was telling her about Dad's 'rules of the road'.”

Daddy rolled his eyes. “Well, I'm not going to be that strict, I don't care of you make your bed, but I don't want your toys to be scattered all over.” 

“Okaaay,” I said. “I'll only bring some of them.” 

“Give me your dirty clothes so I can wash them,” Daddy said, and I picked up the pile I had gathered and handed it to him. Then I sat down and sorted through the little toys. I decided to take some of the Polly Pocket toys and of course, my Hello Kitty figurines. 

When I was finished putting all my stuff away, Uncle Sam said, “Let's go back downstairs and you can work on your lines.” 

“Aww, do I have to?” I complained. 

“Yes, you do,” he said firmly. I followed him into the kitchen, and sat down at the table. He put a pencil and a couple pieces of paper in front of me.

“I want you to write each of these, 20 times.” he told me. He brought his laptop into the kitchen and sat down across from me, opening it and turning it on. “Well?” he said. “Get started.” 

“That's a lot of lines,” I said sourly. “I'll be here for hours n' hours!”

“You got into a lot of trouble,” he replied. “The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish.” 

I sighed and picked up my pencil. 

I will not take things that do not belong to me or steal.  
I will not go into the salvage yard.   
I will not play with matches.  
I will not touch any weapons  
I will not go into the trunk of the car.  
I will not hide things from my family or lie to them. 

As I wrote, I thought about what I had done. I knew I wasn't supposed to play with matches, that was something that Mommy had ingrained in my when I was little.  
Fire was dangerous. And Mommy had taught me that stealing was wrong too.

Daddy had made rules for me, to keep me safe, and I had broken those rules. I had gone through the stuff in the trunk like it was no big deal, and I had taken a big knife out even though Daddy had warned me about not touching weapons. I had taken out herbs that could be dangerous. I had tried to do a spell- I thought about Harry Potter, and realized that doing something like raising someone from the dead was 'black magic', which was bad! 

I put my head down on the table and sobbed. 

I heard a chair scrape the floor, and then felt a hand on the back of my head. 

“Charlie? What's wrong?” Uncle Sam asked.

“I'm bad!” I wailed. “I did so many bad things and it was very dangerous and I could've gotten hurt! I was tryin' to do bad magic, that means I'm bad!” 

Uncle Sam pulled my chair out and picked me up and held me as I cried for a few minutes. 

“No, it doesn't mean that you're bad,” he said. “You weren't thinking clearly, I think, you only had one thought on your mind, which was that you wanted your mom to come back. Grief can make people act differently.” 

“Grief sucks, I hate it,” I said.

It sounded like Uncle Sam chuckled, and then turned it into a cough. “Don't talk like that, Charlie, you shouldn't be saying things like that. But yes, it does, unfortunately you need to work through it, because it's part of life.” 

He pulled back and looked at me. “And you're not bad, you hear me? You did some bad things, and you know it was wrong. And you're not going to do any of that again, are you?”

“Uh-uh,” I said, shaking my head. 

“Right, because you're a good kid who knows right from wrong.” He set me back on the chair. “Keep working,” he said.

I wiped my face with my shirt and picked up the pencil again. 

Daddy came into the kitchen with a laundry basket, and went upstairs. When he came back down, he said, “How about a break, Charlie?” 

“Okay!” I dropped the pencil and rubbed my hand. 

“You want to go outside and I'll push you on the tire swing?” he asked. 

I smiled up at him. “Yeah!” 

We went to the back yard and looked at the plants I had picked to plant in the patch that I had dug up before. I had picked lots of different flowers. There was a butterfly bush that was already blooming. I sat on the swing, and Daddy pushed me. It was very hot, though, so we didn't stay outside for very long. When we went back inside, Daddy told me that we needed to pack, so we went upstairs to my room. There was a pink duffle bag on my bed.

“I got a duffle bag for you a while ago, I forgot to give it to you,” he said.

I hugged him. “Thanks, Daddy!” I said. He helped me pack my clothes, and then he told me to come with him to his room, so he could pack.

“Why do I have to?” I asked. “I want to stay in here and play.”

“Bring something with you, but I told you, you're not going to be alone right now, because I can't trust you.” 

Tears filled my eyes. “But-- how will you trust me? What do I have to do?”

“You do what you're told, and you be honest with me, and you let me know what you're doing, and that will start earning my trust back.” 

“Okay,” I sighed, and grabbed a couple of my Polly Pocket dolls and took them with me. I sat on his bed while he packed his duffle. When he was finished, we went back downstairs, and I had to keep working on my lines. I was almost finished by dinnertime. 

After dinner, Daddy got a phone call from Miss June, and he went to meet her for coffee, because he said she sounded really upset. 

I was sitting at the kitchen table, finishing my lines, and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam had a map spread out and were looking at it, when Daddy walked in. 

“That was fast, what happened?” Grandpa John asked.

Daddy had an odd look on his face. “Well, uh, she, uh...admitted that she had feelings for me. And I...had to tell her that I don't feel the same way,” he looked uncomfortable now. 

“What does that mean?” I asked. “You mean she wanted to be your girlfriend and do all that kissing stuff?” 

Daddy gave a little chuckle. “Yeah, and it really upset her when I told her no.”

“You're always breaking hearts, Dean,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Well, this is complicated because of her ex, and her kids- I've tried to be there as a shoulder for her to cry on, but she took it as something more, because she's having a rough time, but that's the last thing she needs, she needs to get a handle on the situation with Cole first.” Daddy rubbed his hand over his face. “And now I feel like a heel.” 

“You've some a long way, Dean,” Grandpa John said. “I remember when you used to be the 'love 'em and leave 'em' kid in high school.” 

“Back then it was kinda fun. Being an adult and dealing with this kind of stuff is not so fun.” Daddy put his hand on my back. “Take your time growing up, Charlie. Enjoy being a kid for now.” 

 

The next morning, Daddy woke me up early so we could get on the road. Uncle Sam had gotten me a book with word searches and crossword puzzles in it and a coloring book, and I had my drawing stuff and my 3 DS in the back seat. We followed Grandpa John in his giant truck, and we were on the road to meet with Missouri.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear Charlie...she just can't stay out of trouble!  
> *********************

"How long until we stop?" I asked from the back seat.

"We'll stop for lunch," Daddy said.

"When's lunch?"

"Not for a while," Uncle Sam turned to look back at me. "What's up?"

"I don't wanna be in the car any more," I complained. "I'm bored."

"Charlie, we've only been in the car for a couple hours," Uncle Sam said with a chuckle. "Find something to do."

"Kiddo, this is nothing. We used to be in the car all day and night with our dad." Daddy said over his shoulder.

"You've got the book of word searches and stuff, do one of them," Uncle Sam suggested.

"I don't want to," I grumped.

"Play your 3DS," Daddy said.

"It doesn't have that much power left, I forgot to charge it."

"Then draw. Or read."

"Don't wannaaaaa," I whined.

"You just want to be out of the car," Daddy said. "Well, it ain't happenin' right now, kiddo, so deal with it. Find something to do. Look out the window at all the stuff we're driving past."

"Cars and the highway, whoopee," I said in a bored voice.

"See how many license plates you can find from different states," Uncle Sam said. "Or count how many red cars you can see in 20 minutes. There's lots of stuff you can do. Look, I see a license plate from New York and one from Pennsylvania."

"That seems boring," I said.

"Suit yourself," Uncle Sam turned back to face the front.

"I like being on the road," Daddy said. "It's fun to be on the highway with the sun shining down, and a full tank of gas, not sure where you're gonna end up."

"We grew up that way though, we're used to it," Uncle Sam said.

"How about some tunes?" Daddy asked, turning on the radio.

"Classic rock is bor-ing," I said.

Daddy gasped and said, "How can you say that?" in a teasing way.

I sighed and pulled out the coloring book that Uncle Sam had gotten for me, and the crayons. I colored three pages, and by then my hand was hurting.

Daddy got a call from Grandpa John and said, "We're going to pull off for a rest stop, do you need to use the rest room?"

"Uhhh, yeah," I said. He pulled into a gas station, and all of us got out of the car. Daddy walked me over to the women's bathroom.  
"Go on in, I'll wait here," he said. When I came out he walked me back over to the car, where Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were standing.  
"Be right back," Daddy said. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had coffee.

"Can I have some?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's just what you need, coffee," Uncle Sam said. "I don't think so. You'd be bouncing around in the back seat."

"How's it going?" Grandpa John asked.

"She's not used to being in the car for long periods of time," Uncle Sam told him.

"It's boring," I said.

"We'll have to see if we can find a motel with a playground or something," Grandpa John said to me.

Daddy came back to the car, and we got in and started driving again. It got warm in the back of the car, and I fell asleep. I woke up when the car stopped. My face felt hot and sweaty.

"We're going to get some lunch, Charlie, are you hungry?" Daddy asked.

I opened the door and saw a big fountain in front of the restaurant. The sun was high overheard and made the water falling down look like diamonds.

"Look at that, it's so pretty!" I said, and I ran across the parking lot towards it. I wanted to put my hands in the sparkling water and play with it!

"Charlie!" I heard Uncle Sam yell as I ran.

I leaned on the edge of the fountain and put my hand in the cool water. Then there was a hand on my arm, and I was jerked to a standing position, and then my butt was stinging because Daddy gave me a couple of swats.

"Oww," I whimpered, reaching back to rub the sting out.

Daddy turned me and bent down to look me in the face. "You do not run across the parking lot like that, little girl," he said angrily. "That's how you get hit by a car!"

"I'm hot," I whined. "I wanted to see the fountain!"

He gave me a little shake. "I don't care, you stay right by the car after you get out from now on. You got it?"

"Yes, Daddy, sorry," I said. He straightened up and let me go, then took my hand.

"I'm gonna get gray hairs from this," he said to Uncle Sam. "Do I have any yet?"

Grandpa John came over to us and followed behind us as we went inside.

I sat in a booth next to Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John sat across from us. The waitress gave me a paper placemat and a couple of crayons.

"We came through here a while ago, do you remember?" Grandpa John said. He snapped his fingers. "No, that's right, you two were with Jim."

"Which time that we were with Pastor Jim?" Daddy asked.

"Sammy was still in diapers, so it was longer than I thought, geez!"

"Isn't the memory the first thing to go in an old person, Dean?" Uncle Sam said with a grin.

"Yeah, you better hang up your gun and move into a rest home, Dad," Daddy teased.

"Hell no, I'm not stopping until I get that yellow eyed bast-" Grandpa John stopped talking, and coughed. "Never mind."

"Who is Pastor Jim?" I asked.

"He's an old friend of mine," Grandpa John said. "The boys used to stay with him from time to time when I was hunting."

"You'll probably meet him someday," Daddy said.

"You trained Daddy and Uncle Sam to be hunters," I said to Grandpa John, "Will I get trained to be a hunter?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Grandpa John said.

The waitress came over and handed out our drinks.

"I think that's something we're all in agreement of," Daddy said. "You need to have a normal life, going to school, and then college, and find a career and all that."

"But I'm already not normal!" I protested.

"What do you mean?" Uncle Sam asked.

I looked at all of them. "I can tell things about people when I touch them, and I have people in my family with weird abilities and you guys all hunt monsters! None of that is normal!"

"Well, she has a point," Uncle Sam said.

"It's still no," Daddy said resolutely. "I don't want her in the hunting life, it's too dangerous."

"But what if I want to?" I asked.

"The answer will always be no," Daddy said in a hard voice.

"But when I'm a adult, you can't tell me what to do! I can decide-"

Daddy interrupted me, leaning over to me. "NO, little girl, now drop it."

I closed my mouth with a snap. Everyone took a drink of their drinks.

"Stubborn all the way, she's a Winchester, all right," Grandpa John chuckled, shaking his head.

I colored on my placemat and did the mazes that were on it while they chatted until the food came.

The waitress came over with a big tray and started to put plates down. She leaned over and said to me, "Careful, honey, the fries are hot, they just came out of the fryer. And these plates are heavy."

She handed me a plate and put her hand on top of mine to steady it. I got a flash of a baby standing up in a crib, and I knew that she was leaving her baby alone when she was coming here to work.

"You can't keep leaving her alone, she's learning how to get out of her crib," I blurted.

The waitress stopped and stared at me. "What did you say?"

I almost dropped my plate, and Daddy grabbed it and set it on the table. I shrank back, feeling scared and embarrassed. "N-nothing," I said.

She shook her head. "Did Jimmy put you up to this? I'm gonna kill him," she muttered.

She finished handing out the food and walked away, still shaking her head.

They were all looking at me.

"What did you see?" Daddy asked.

"She leaves her baby alone in her house when she comes to work," I said. "I saw a baby- well, a older baby, 'cause she was standing up in a crib, and she was lifting her leg up to try and climb out." Tears filled my eyes and I still felt scared.

"What's wrong?" Daddy looked at me. "Are you still worried about getting into trouble?"

I nodded. " 'Cause I would get yelled at every time I said something when I was little." Daddy put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me.

"Remember, that's not going to happen any more," Uncle Sam told me.

I nodded and wiped my eyes with my napkin.

After we ate, it took a while for them to get the attention of someone so that Daddy could ask for the check. A waiter brought our check over, and Daddy left cash on the table.

As we were walking out, I looked over the counter and saw our waitress standing there holding a tissue. Her face and eyes were red. She said something to the waitress standing next to her when she saw us.

"Little girl," she called. "How did you know?"

I stopped, and felt my face get red. "I—I-" I stammered. "Know what?"

Daddy put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.

Her face got red. "Look, I don't got a lot of money, right? So I been leaving my baby girl in her crib when I have a short shift, thinkin' that she's okay. After you said that, I called my neighbor to check on her, and...my girl had gotten out of her crib and was in the living room about to pull the t.v. down on top of herself." She shuddered and started to cry. The waitress next to her squeezed her shoulder.

"She...knows things when she touches people," Daddy said.

"Well, thanks, hon, you saved my baby's life, ya know?" she smiled at me, and then walked over to a clear glass case on the counter. "I know this isn't much, but take this as a thank-you." She opened the case and took out a pie, sliding it into a cardboard box.

"It's apple, hand-made by one of the chefs here," she smiled at me.

Daddy's face lit up. "Great, thanks!" He took the box.

"Thank you," I said.

"No, honey, thank you!" she said as we walked out.

"Well, how about that?" Uncle Sam said, turning to me. "You've always felt bad about what you can do, and something good came from it."

"And Missouri will teach you how to control it, so that you don't just blurt things out," Grandpa John said. He ruffled my hair. "That was pretty amazing."

"And we got some free pie!" Daddy said happily.

"It should be for Charlie to eat, since it was a reward for her," Uncle Sam teased.

"You'll let me have some, won't you?" Daddy asked me, batting his eyes at me.

I laughed. "Yeah, we can divide it into four pieces for all of us!"

We got into the car and Daddy put the pie in the trunk, then he got back on the highway.

I leaned forward and put my hand on the back of the front seat. "Can I sit up front with you?" I asked them.

Both Daddy and Uncle Sam said, "No," at exactly the same time.

"Aww, why not?" I protested.

"Because there's a law that says that kids have to be in the back until they're a certain age," Daddy told me. "You should know this already."

"Well, she shouldn't have done that," Uncle Sam said. "Are you bored already?"

"Yeees!"

He sighed and shook his head. "You've got to find something to do, Charlie."

A couple minutes later, I unbuckled my seatbelt, turned around and got on my knees to watch out the back window. I folded my arms on top of the seat and rested my chin on them. At least I could watch the cars go by from a different angle this way.

"What- what are you doing?" Uncle Sam said. "Charlie!"

"Hey! Sit your butt down in that seat right now!" Daddy yelled.

I turned, just as Uncle Sam was reaching back to smack my behind.

"Ow!" I whined, turning all the way and sitting down.

"Little girl, you do not take your seat belt off when the car is in motion!" Daddy yelled at me.

"You know better than to do that, young lady. Get buckled," Uncle Sam said curtly.

"Okayokay," I grumped.

"Hey, knock it off with the attitude! If you pull something like that again, I will pull this car over and spank your butt, you hear me?" Daddy asked, glaring at me in the rear- view mirror.

I gulped, and looked at Uncle Sam. He looked stern too. "Watch your mouth," he said in a hard voice.

"Uh, yes, Daddy, yes, uh, Uncle Sam," I said. I didn't want them both upset with me, I didn't know if they would both spank me, but I didn't want to find out if that would happen. I unzipped my backpack and pulled out a coloring book.

What seemed like hours later, I had done 3 word searches, two crossword puzzles, and colored three pages. My hand was tired and my crayons were getting dull.  
"Can we stop?" I asked. "I'm hungry, I gotta go pee, and I wanna get out of the car!"

"All right, we can stop," Daddy said. "Call Dad and let him know," he said to Uncle Sam.

Daddy pulled into a gas station and stopped at a pump. He turned to me as I opened my door. "Stay by the car," he said sternly.

"I knoooow," I rolled my eyes and slammed the door shut.

He got out of the car and looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Attitude, little girl," he said. "That's all I'm going to say."

Uncle Sam walked me to the bathroom. "I can go by myself ya know, the car's right over there," I pointed at the gas pump on the end where Daddy was parked.  
"What are the rules? You don't go anywhere by yourself, and you stay with an adult when we're out somewhere," Uncle Sam reminded me.

"I'm not a baby!" I complained.

"It has nothing to do with that, it has to do with keeping you safe."

I huffed at him and went into the bathroom.

When I came out, we went back over to the car. Grandpa John was standing there talking to Daddy.

"Can I go and run around somewhere?" I asked.

"There isn't really anywhere for you to do that, so no," Daddy said.

"Are you hungry?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Yes...can I get some candy?" I looked up at Daddy hopefully.

He glanced at Uncle Sam, who said, "That's the last thing you need right now, pick something healthy."

"Not fair!" I stomped my foot. I was getting annoyed. I didn't like being cooped up in the car, and if I had to be in the back seat for hours and hours, at least they could let me have some yummy stuff to eat!

"I need a cup of caffeine, I'll take her in. You boys want anything?" Grandpa John asked. He held his hand out to me and I took it.

"No junk food either," Uncle Sam called.

When we went into the mini- mart, Grandpa John went over to the coffee machines and started to get himself a coffee. A man that was standing there said, "It that your Impala out there?"

"It was mine, but I gave it to my son," Grandpa John said. "It's been in good working condition since I bought it..."

I tuned him out, because he was talking about the car, and cars are boring. I turned and my attention was caught by all the brightly colored candy wrappers on the shelves. I walked down the aisle and started looking at all the different stuff they had- fruit rings, lollipops, gummy worms, bubble gum, chocolate bars, mints, gummy bears...

I heard the bell over the door ring and then Uncle Sam's voice.

"Dad, where is she?" and then Uncle Sam was standing at the end of the aisle.

"Charlie, get over here!" Uncle Sam pointed to the floor right in front of him. I scurried over and stood there, putting my hands behind my back.

He leaned down to look me in the eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked. "What did I tell you outside?"

"Uh, you didn't exactly say no to the candy," I said, and he straightened up, shaking his head, and took my hand. "Come on, out to the car," he said.

"I was just looking!" I protested, trying to pull away. Uncle Sam walked us back over to the car and then turned me to face him.

"What's going on?" Daddy asked.

"I just reminded you of the rules not less than 10 minutes ago!" Uncle Sam said angrily to me. He looked at Daddy. "She was down at the end of the candy aisle!"

Daddy looked at me. "You walked away from Grandpa John?" he asked me.

"He was getting coffee and talking to a guy about the car," I explained, trying to sound reasonable.

"That doesn't mean it's okay for you to leave him!" Uncle Sam said.

Grandpa John came walking up to us. "What's wrong?" he asked, looking at all of us.

"Dad, she walked away from you again in the store! You can't let her do that!" Daddy said angrily. "I have rules, that she's supposed to stay with an adult when we're in public, and she's not supposed to wander off by herself! For God's sake, do you remember what happened with her aunt?"

"You remember how you were with us?" Uncle Sam asked.

Grandpa John rubbed his forehead and glanced at me. "You're right, Dean, I owe you an apology. You made rules for your daughter, and I need to abide by them. I was pretty strict about the two of you going off by yourselves too, but I knew you'd always look out for each other. I'm sorry, Dean. I shouldn't allow your kid to break the rules that you made."

Daddy sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face.

"And you," Uncle Sam turned to me, "need to apologize to Grandpa John for walking away from him when you were with him, not once, but twice now. You broke two rules with him, two times, young lady!"

I looked up at Grandpa John. He looked stern, and he raised his eyebrows. 

I felt my face get red. “I, uh, I'm sorry, Grandpa John. Are you gonna spank me? I didn't mean to break those rules, I wasn't thinking about it!” I said in a rush, feeling tears come to my eyes. I stared at the ground, feeling embarrassed.

“No, I'm not going to spank you, that's your dad's job. It's all right, little one,” Grandpa John said, stepping forward and hugging me. He patted my back after he let me go.

 

Daddy opened the back door. "Get in the car," he said tersely. I got in and he shut the door. They stood there talking for a couple of minutes, and Daddy went back into the store. Uncle Sam got into the driver's side and turned around to face me.

"Get out some paper and a pencil," he told me.

"Why?" I asked.

"You're writing lines," he said. "'I will stay with an adult when we are out', and, 'I will not wander off by myself', 50 times each."

"No fair!" I exclaimed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"The alternative is a spanking," he said, "so I suggest you do what I told you."

I sighed and pulled out my drawing pad and found a pencil.

Daddy got into the passenger seat and turned to me. "I got a snack for you, which you can have after you've finished your lines," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Chocolate chip granola bar and yogurt covered raisins. And juice."

"Do I have to do the lines now?" I whined.

"Yes," they both said at the same time.

I sighed again and started to write. Uncle Sam started the car, and pulled into traffic.

Daddy leaned his head against the window and napped. It felt like it took hours to finish my lines, but I finally wrote the last one. I handed the pad up to Uncle Sam, and he glanced down at it.

"Good job," he said. He passed back the bag of food, and I got my snack out and ate it, looking out the window.

Someone was shaking my shoulder. "Wake up, Charlie," Daddy said. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

We were parked in front of a hotel, and two doors that were next to each other were open. Grandpa John's truck was parked next to us.

I got out of the car and Daddy pointed at the open door. "We're in that room," he said. I walked into the room- there were two huge beds! I ran over to one and got on it and started to jump- it was like a giant square trampoline!

"Look-- at these-- big—giant-- beds-- Uncle Sam!" I called to him when he came in. He looked over at me, slung the duffles on the floor, and walked over to the bed. He grabbed me right in the middle of a jump, and I shrieked.

"Jumping on the bed is not a good idea," he said, and put me on the floor.

"You're no fun!" I pouted. Daddy came in with another couple of bags.

"Dean, she's wired," Uncle Sam said. "We need to find a playground or something, soon!"

"Nah, she can run laps," Daddy said. "That's what Dad used to have us do, remember? Come here, Charlie."

I followed him back outside, and he said, "Run to the end of the sidewalk and back to me." There was a long sidewalk in front of all the hotel room doors, and I ran down and then came back.

"One more time," Daddy said. I ran down to the end, and then came running back again. Grandpa John and Uncle Sam were standing with Daddy when I came back.

Uncle Sam had something in his hand. "You bought her candy, Dad, after I said no?" he asked, frowning.

"I didn't buy her anything," Grandpa John said. All three of them turned to look at me.

I was breathing heavy, and my throat was dry. All of a sudden, it became as dry as the desert as I tried to swallow nervously.

Uncle Sam held up a small package of gummy bears. "Charlie?" he said. "I just found these on the floor next to the bed, where you were jumping. These were the kind that were in the store where we stopped. Do you have something to say?”


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, Charlie gets spanked with a paddle twice in this chapter. Do not read if this will bother or offend you.   
> *****************

Daddy crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned at me. 

 

“I, uh, need a drink,” I rasped out. 

 

Daddy pointed at the door. “Go in and sit down at the table,” he said. We all walked in to the room, He walked over to the sink and got me a drink of water, using the plastic cup that was next to the sink. He brought it over to me and handed it to me, and I drank all the water and put the cup on the table.

 

I looked up at them- they were all standing in front of me, and they all looked stern and frowny. Again.

 

“I, uh, I was upset,” I twisted my fingers together in my lap. “I was tired of bein' in the car, and I wanted to get something that I wanted, and I just...I grabbed them off the shelf and put them in my pocket real quick.” 

 

“Charlotte Ann Winchester, I cannot believe you!” Daddy exploded, and I flinched. “What the hell, little girl?” 

 

He looked over at Grandpa John. “See, Dad? See? I told you that it was going to come back and bite us if we didn't enforce the rules earlier.” 

 

“Didn't we tell you, that she's also restricted- that we're not leaving her alone right now because she can't be trusted? How could you just let her wander off like that, Dad?” Uncle Sam shook his head. 

 

“Sam, it happened so fast, I let go of her hand so I could pour myself a cup of coffee, and then a couple of seconds later she was gone. Not that that is any excuse, mind you. I should have been paying closer attention.” Grandpa John said. “I'm sorry.”

 

“And she should have stayed right by your side.” Daddy said. “Shouldn't you, Charlie?” He frowned at me.

 

I squirmed uncomfortably. “Uh, yeah,” I mumbled, looking down at my hands again.

 

“Charlotte Anne, what do you have to say for yourself?” Uncle Sam asked, and his voice was deeper and more stern than I'd heard him before.

 

“I, uh-- there was this little store next to the playground where we lived and the owner was friends with Mommy, and he always let me take some candy.”

 

“This is different,” Daddy said. “This was stealing, and you know that it was, otherwise you would have said something, and not hidden this in your pocket. This is the second time, little girl.” Daddy held up the package of candy. “And what you said before... you took candy because you were tired of being in the car and you didn't like when Uncle Sam said no candy? You were proving to yourself that you could do what you wanted and get away with it?” 

 

I blushed. “I... I guess.” 

 

“Do you realize that if you had been caught, we could have gotten into trouble?” Uncle Sam pointed to himself and Daddy. “The police could have gotten involved.”

 

I stared up at him, feeling scared. “The...police?” I asked in a tiny voice.

 

“Yes, and one or both of us could have ended up in jail and you'd get taken away and probably never see us again.” Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips. 

 

I looked from him to Daddy, and then I started to cry.

 

“Stealing is a crime, little girl,” Daddy said in a hard voice. “Do you know this?”

 

“Y-yes,” I said. 

 

“Did your mother teach you not to steal?”

 

“Y-yes,” I repeated, and felt a tear slip down my cheek. 

 

“Then why did you?” Uncle Sam asked.

 

“I—I don't know!” I wailed, and started to sob. 

 

“Just because someone you knew used to let you take something from his store doesn't mean that you're allowed to do that everywhere else,” Daddy said. “When are you going to realize that you can't just do what you want anymore? There are rules to follow, and consequences that will happen when those rules get broken.”

 

He looked at Grandpa John and Uncle Sam. “Let's go talk,” he pointed outside.   
“You stay right there,” he said to me, and the three of them left the room. They left the door open, and stood on the sidewalk, talking in low voices. They glanced in at me every once in a while. Then Daddy got out his keys and got in the car and left. Uncle Sam came into the room and closed the door, then he pointed to the corner of the room.

 

“Go stand in the corner.” he told me. 

 

“Uh, can I have some more water please?” I asked.

 

“Get a drink.” he came over to me. I walked over to the sink and filled the cup. I put the cup next to the sink when I was finished, and turned. 

 

“Corner,” Uncle Sam said. 

 

“Where did Daddy go?” I asked him.

 

“No talking,” he said sternly. I felt tears come to my eyes again. I stood in the corner and stared at the wall. I wished now that I hadn't taken the candy. Why had I? I had been tired of being in the car and annoyed at Daddy and Uncle Sam. Thinking about the other store and how Mr. Elliott always let me take some candy had made me remember how much freedom I had had with my Mom, how I had no rules and could do what I wanted. 

 

Daddy and Uncle Sam kept telling me that things were different now, that I had rules I had to follow. I didn't like the rules, but I had to follow them, or I'd get into trouble. And now I was in big trouble. I didn't know what was going to happen- was I going to get spankings from both of them again? I swallowed nervously at the thought of that. Would I have to write hundreds and hundreds of lines? Or stand in the corner all night? 

 

I shifted from foot to foot and then leaned my head on the wall. I was getting bored.

 

“Stand up straight, young lady. No leaning.” Uncle Sam said. 

 

I sighed and lifted my head up. Then I heard the door opening. 

 

“Charlie, come here,” Daddy said. I turned, and walked over to him. 

 

“Sit down,” he pointed at the bed. I sat down on the end and looked up at him. Uncle Sam was sitting at the table with his laptop open. 

 

Daddy was holding a plastic bag in his hands. “We've told you several times now that things have changed, and that you can't just do what you want any more, but it doesn't seem to be getting through to you. It's time for you to start falling in line and following the rules. No more warnings, it's straight to consequences from now on. Although it seems like times outs and writing lines aren't getting through to you, so now you're going to get a more serious consequence.”

 

Daddy reached into the bag and pulled out a small wooden paddle. “When rules are broken or you misbehave, you're going to get swats from the paddle added on to the end of your spanking, depending on what you've done,” he told me. “I'm going to give you a spanking for breaking the rules and walking away when you were with Grandpa John, and you'll get three with the paddle. Tomorrow night at bedtime, you'll get a spanking from Uncle Sam, for stealing, and you'll be getting 4 swats with the paddle, because you stole twice.” 

 

I stared up at the paddle, feeling anxious. I had no idea what it was going to feel like, but if it was a more serious consequence, then it must hurt worse than a spanking.   
“Uncle Sam and Grandpa John are going to go get food for us, and we're going to eat in the room tonight,” Daddy said. 

 

Uncle Sam stood up. “Be back in a little while.” 

 

Daddy came over and sat down next to me, and put the paddle on the bed. 

 

“Let's get this over with,” he said. “Stand up.” 

 

“Daddy, wait--” I said, my stomach twisting with nerves. 

 

He raised his eyebrows and looked at me. 

 

“I, uh, I--” I stuttered. 

 

He shook his head. “No more stalling, little girl,” he said. “I told you to stand up.”   
Tears came to my eyes and I felt scared. I stood up and turned to face him.

 

“What rules did you break?” he asked me. 

 

I couldn't think just then. “Uh, I'm not s'posed to, uh—uh...”

 

“Always stay with a grownup when we are out, and no wandering off.” he said sternly. 

 

He took my wrist, and pulled me over to his right side, and then in one quick movement, had my shorts and underpants down and had turned me over his lap.

 

I yelped, “Dad-dy!” and then his hand came down on my bare bottom. A flurry of quick, sharp swats made me gasp and then wail. 

 

I felt him lean over, and then I heard the paddle crack against my bottom and felt it a second later. It didn't look that big, but it covered my whole bottom and it felt like a lightning strike when it landed. I shrieked and then burst into tears. 

 

“Daddy I'm sorryyyy!” I wailed, and then the second swat fell. I wriggled on Daddy's lap and tried to squirm off, but he put his hand on my back and held me there.   
The third swat landed on the lowest part of my butt and I howled and kicked my feet. Somehow Daddy had managed to light my whole bottom on fire- at least that's what it felt like.

 

“You are going to learn the rules, and you are going to follow them, or you're going to get more of this, do you understand?” Daddy asked in a firm voice.

 

“Y-y-yes, Daddy,” I heaved out. I did not want more of this, ever, and I told myself I was going to follow the rules from now on.  
I laid there across his lap, sobbing, for a couple minutes, and then I felt him pulling my panties up and easing them over my sore rear end. Then he lifted me up and held me in his arms, against his chest, the way you'd hold a baby. I turned my face into his flannel and sobbed as he rocked me a little bit. 

 

“Sorry, Daddy, sorry I was b-bad,” My chest hitched as I tried to calm down. 

 

“Shh, all right, it's done,” he murmured. “It's over for now, sweetheart.” 

 

When I was calm, he stood me up, and then picked up my shorts and helped me put them on. They had gotten kicked off during the spanking. 

 

“Go wash your face,” he told me, and I walked over to the sink and splashed water on my face and blew my nose. 

 

Daddy pulled out his phone and texted someone. I walked back over to him and leaned on him, and he put his arm around me. 

 

“I know you can be a good girl,” he murmured, stroking my hair. “You're a smart girl, you just need help remembering the rules.” 

 

I climbed onto his lap again, and snuggled into him, and he said, “Let's talk about the rules right now. What did you just get in trouble for?”

 

“Uh, no going off by myself, an' always stay with a grownup when we're out.” I replied.

 

“Good. What else?” I felt him stroking my hair back from my face.

“Um...no sassing or lying.”

“Right. What else?”

“Don't put your hands on anyone else, no hitting or pushing.” 

“That's right...what else?”

“Don't answer the hotel door myself.”

“Oh yeah, we made that one because of your aunt...also, do what you're told, without attitude or disrespect, hmm?”

“Okay, I mean yes, Daddy.” 

“Good girl,” he said, hugging me tightly for a moment.I felt small and safe in his arms.

I hugged him back. “I love you, Daddy,” 

 

I felt him kiss the top of my head. “I love you too, sweetheart.”

 

The door opened, and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came into the room with a couple of bags. One of them had Chinese food in it, and we sat down at the table to eat together. 

 

Grandpa John gave me a pair of chopsticks that were attached on one end, and showed me how to use them, but it was too hard for me.

 

“You'll get the hang of it, it is hard at first,” he told me with a smile. 

 

They had also gotten some beer for themselves, and Uncle Sam put them in the mini-fridge. 

 

“While we were out, and looking for the Chinese restaurant, I saw a teacher's store, and I went in to get some things.” Uncle Sam reached into another bag and pulled out a couple of books. “These are school workbooks, I thought I could teach you some things about fractions and pre-algebra, and it would give you something to do while we're in the car. I think you'll be able to get the hang of it.” 

 

Daddy had brought the apple pie in, and Uncle Sam used the pie to explain about fractions and how things get divided up. Then he showed me how to do the work in one of the work books while we ate the pie for dessert.

 

“This is cool!” I said to him. “Thanks for showing me this stuff!” 

 

“Good, I'm glad,” Uncle Sam said. “Now you'll have something to do besides coloring and word searches.” 

 

After we ate, we all went for a walk. Grandpa John said that there was a fast food restaurant next to the hotel, that had a play area in it, so we went inside. They got coffee and sat at a table while I went into the play area and ran around. There were lots of kids there and it was very noisy. 

 

Daddy came into the room and called to me, and I ran up to him. He looked down at me and chuckled. “You're all red-faced and sweaty, I guess you're going to need a bath. Let's go back to the room now.” 

 

“Okay, Daddy,” I agreed, and I went to get my shoes. 

 

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John sat on the sofa and talked while Daddy ran my bath, and I got out a nightgown and my hairbrush and toothbrush. 

 

I brought the brush over to Uncle Sam when I was all finished, for him to brush my hair out. 

 

“Did you brush your teeth?” Daddy asked. “It's about time for you to go to bed.”

 

“Yes, Daddy, I already did.” I replied. I put the brush back in the bathroom, and then walked back over to say goodnight. I stood in front of them and took a deep breath, then I said, “I'm sorry I was bad before and Grandpa John, I'm sorry I stole stuff when I was with you.” I blushed as I said it, and stared at my feet. 

 

Grandpa John reached for me and pulled me into his arms. “You know you did wrong, and you're going to try to do better, right?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“Well, that's what matters. You're a good girl, Charlie.” He hugged me and kissed my forehead. “Good night, little one.” 

 

I hugged him, and he let me go, then I went to Uncle Sam. 

 

“Thank you for apologizing,” he said as he hugged me. “I know you can do the right thing.” He dropped a kiss on my head and then let me go. Daddy walked me over to the bed, and I got under the covers. He sat down and hugged me tightly. 

 

“Sleep well, Charlie,” he said, and kissed my cheek. “We're going to go stand outsdie the room and talk while you're falling asleep, all right?” 

 

“Okay, Daddy.” I said. He tucked me in, and I rolled over and closed my eyes. All the running around had made me tired, and I fell asleep quickly. 

 

I woke up with a start when I heard the mini-fridge door slam. I heard the sound of caps being taken off of beer bottles. They were talking quietly, sitting at the table.   
“You know, watching you with Charlie, I've realized that I have a lot of regrets about how I raised you boys,” Grandpa John said. “And I think I was letting those get in the way when I was with her, I let her do what she wanted because I was trying to, I don't know, make up for how strict I was with you. But I see now that you're right, Charlie does need rules and structure.” 

 

“Wow, Dad, that's pretty self- aware,” Uncle Sam said. 

 

“Especially for Mr. 'Suck It Up and Rub Some Dirt on It' John Winchester,” Daddy said in a teasing way. 

 

“Well, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. I know they say that having kids changes a man, but now I see that having a grand-kid changes you as well. Again, I'm sorry I didn't enforce the rules with her before. I feel like, if I had, maybe this whole debacle with the candy wouldn't have happened.” 

 

“Don't blame yourself, Dad,” Uncle Sam said. “She's still going to be pushing the boundaries with all of us, until the rules get set in her head.” 

 

“I really hope she starts to take it seriously,” Daddy said. “She's so smart, I hope she starts to remember the rules on her own so that we don't have to keep punishing her.” 

 

“Well, she's a Winchester, so she's also going to be as stubborn as all get-out,” Grandpa John chuckled. “Sometimes the only way you boys would remember and learn something was through repeated hand-to- butt lessons.”

 

“I don't think she's going to go that route, she's smarter than us in that respect. At least I think she is. Sometimes the stuff we got in trouble for was because we weren't using our heads.” Uncle Sam chuckled too. 

 

I rolled over, and Daddy came over to me. “Are we keeping you up?” he asked softly. “I'll rub your back to help you go back to sleep.” He sat down on the edge of my bed and began to rub my back, and I eventually fell asleep again.

 

 

In the morning, we walked over to the fast food restaurant for breakfast, and then they let me run around for a long time. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John went back to the motel and packed everything, and Daddy stayed with me while I was in the play area. 

 

I saw Uncle Sam coming in, and he called to me. “We're ready to go, Charlie, come and use the rest room.”

 

“Aww, do we hafta go?” I complained.

 

“Yes, we need to get going now.” He held my shoes out to me. I put them on and went to the bathroom, and splashed cold water on my sweaty face and neck. 

 

When we got in the car, Uncle Sam handed me the math workbook, and then another workbook.

 

“This one is for reading, it's got short stories in it that you read and then answer questions about, and then it's got vocabulary words to study.” He showed me one of the stories. “We can study the words later if you want.” 

 

“My teacher said I had the biggest vocabulary of all the kids in the class at the end of the year, last year,” I told him.

 

“I believe it,” he smiled at me. 

 

Daddy turned around to look at me. “Let's go over the rules before we get started, just so they're fresh in your mind.” 

 

“Okay...um, always stay with a grown-up when we're out somewhere and no wandering off...”

 

Daddy and Uncle Sam nodded.

 

“No sassing, no lying, no putting your hands on anyone or hitting.”

 

Uncle Sam chuckled and looked at Daddy. “Is that because of that kid on the playground?”

 

“Yeah,” Daddy replied. “What else?”

 

“Don't answer the door by myself. And, uh, do what I'm told, without a attitude or disrespect.” 

 

“Good job.” Daddy smiled at me and ruffled my hair.

 

“Good girl, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said. They turned around and buckled their seatbelts, and then Daddy glanced back at me. “Are you buckled? That's another one, always stay buckled when the car is moving...right?”

 

“Oh...yeah. And stay by the car after I get out.”

 

“That's right, good job remembering.” Daddy started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. 

 

I concentrated on the math workbook so much that the morning passed by quickly. And it seemed like suddenly we were stopping for lunch. We went into a big restaurant that had a lot of flyers about different things for tourists to do. 

 

When we sat down at the table, Uncle Sam said, “I noticed that there's a rescue zoo just down the road from here, should we try and find out if it's any good?” 

 

“Sure, we can take a break,” Daddy agreed.

 

Uncle Sam asked the waitress about it when she brought our menus. 

 

“It's a small zoo, they have a lot of wild animals that were brought in the a park ranger when they got injured. They also have a bird sanctuary that you can go into, the birds are so tame that they'll eat right out of your hand.” She told us with a smile. 

 

After we ate, we went to the zoo. They had a big porcupine that had been injured, and some big hawks and an eagle that had been rescued and fixed up. There were goats and sheep that you could feed and pet, and llamas and an emu, which is a big funny looking bird. The bird house had lots of parakeets and cockatiels and they contantly flew all over the place. They had little sticks with birdseed on them, and when you held one, a bird would come over to you and land on your hand. The birds also would land on your shoulders and head, and there was one green and yellow bird that kept following Daddy around and landing on his head.

 

“What can I say, chicks dig me,” he said with a grin. 

 

By the time we left I was worn out from all the walking that we did, and I fell asleep in the back of the car. Daddy woke me up when we got to the motel. Uncle Sam had found one that had a park with a playground next to it, and he took me there after we got our rooms. Grandpa John's room was a few doors down from ours this time. 

 

We found a diner- type restaurant to eat at for dinner, and then Daddy took me back to the playground after we ate so I could run around some more. He pushed me on the swings for a long time, and then told me that we should go back to the room. 

 

“I want you to take a bath, you got all sweaty again,” he said as we walked to the room together. 

“Aww, do I have to? I want to watch a movie or something tonight.” I said. 

 

“Yes, you need another bath. And I don't think you're going to have time to watch anything tonight, it's already pretty late.”

 

“That's no fair!” I complained. “I want to watch t.v.!” 

 

“I let you play on the playground for a long time tonight because I think you need exercise more than you need to watch t.v., little girl. And you're still getting a bedtime spanking from Uncle Sam tonight.”

 

I gulped as I remembered. We went into the room, and I got out my nightgown while Daddy ran the water for me. I took a long time, dawdling in the tub, and drying off. I was getting anxious. 

 

Daddy knocked on the door. “You've been in there for quite a while now, and you need to get to bed. Come on, it's getting late.” 

 

I opened the door and got my brush. I took it over to Uncle Sam, and he asked, “Did you already brush your teeth?” as he brushed my hair out. 

 

“Uh, yeah,” I said.

 

Daddy took some clothes into the bathroom. “I'm going to take a shower,” he told us, and closed the bathroom door. 

 

“All done,” Uncle Sam handed me the brush, and I walked over to my bed and put the brush on the table between the beds. 

 

“Can I do some more math right now?” I asked, picking up my drawing bag. 

 

“No, we need to take care of something,” Uncle Sam said. He had walked over to Daddy's duffle, and he took something out. My stomach twisted when I saw it was the paddle. 

 

He walked back over to the table, pulling the chair out. He sat down and beckoned me to come to him with his hand, setting the paddle on the table. 

 

“Charlotte Anne, I told you to come here.” he said firmly.

 

“I learned my lesson, Uncle Sam,” I tried to sound reasonable. “I did.”

 

“I'm glad that you feel you've learned your lesson, but you still need to be punished for stealing.” 

 

He looked at me, and I looked at him. “Young lady, if I have to come get you, you'll get more swats added on. Is that what you want?” his voice was stern.

 

“No!” I walked slowly over to him, dragging my feet. I stood there and looked up at him, biting my lip nervously. 

 

“Why are you getting this spanking?” he asked me. 

 

Tears came to my eyes. “ 'Cause I stole a book from a store an' then I stole candy from another store.” I said in a small voice. “An' stealing is wrong and against the law.”

 

He reached for me, and guided me over to his leg, and lifted me over his lap. His huge hand fell just a few times, enough to make my bottom feel warm. He lifted the hem of my nightgown up onto my lower back, and then pulled my panties down to above my knees. 

 

I heard the scrape of the paddle on the table as he picked it up and I whimpered.   
Then I heard the sound of the first swat right as I felt it, and I yelled out as I tried to jerk my body off of his lap. I burst into tears as I felt him push me back down over his knees.

 

“Uncle Saaaam pleeeeease--” I wailed.

 

I kicked my feet as the paddle fell three more times, and once again my whole bottom was on fire and I was bawling. I felt him pulling my panties back up, and I swore to myself that I was never going to be bad enough to get swatted with the paddle ever again. 

 

Uncle Sam picked me up and held me in his arms, and I cried against his shoulder. “All right, it's done, Charlie, it's over,” he soothed. 

 

When the fire in my butt had dulled to a smolder, I was calm, and Uncle Sam set me on his lap. He handed me the tissue box and I pulled some out and wiped my face and blew my nose. He hugged me and rubbed my back. 

 

“It's time for you to go to bed now,” he said quietly. He picked me up and carried me over to the bed, and tucked me in. After he had hugged me, I rolled over on my stomach because my bottom was still sore. 

 

Daddy came out of the bathroom, and sat down on the edge of the bed. 

 

“Good night, Charlie,” he leaned down to kiss me, and I turned and propped myself on my elbow to hug him. 

 

“You did well today, I'm proud of you,” he said. He tucked me in again after I laid back down, and I fell asleep quickly.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that the first time we meet Ben Braeden in Supernatural, he's turning 8 years old. For the purposes of this story, I made him 10 years old.  
> ********************

A loud crash of thunder woke me up suddenly. I lifted my head up and heard rain falling, hard, and I wasn't sure where I was for a moment. Then there was another crash of thunder, so loud that the walls shook, and I shrieked and scrambled off of the bed. I threw myself at the person sitting on the sofa, feeling tears start. 

 

After a second I realized that it wasn't Daddy or Uncle Sam and I pulled back from the flannel shirt I had rested my head on. It was Grandpa John's lap that I was sitting on! 

I looked up at him and said, “Oh,” in a small voice. 

I felt shy suddenly and started to get off of his lap, but then there was another crack of thunder and a bright flash of lightning, and I yelped. He put his arms around me. “What's the matter, you don't like storms?” he asked me.

“No, the thunder is scary, an' the wind and rain makes it sound like a haunted house!” I said, and I looked around the room. “Where's my Daddy? And Uncle Sam?” 

“They went out for a while. They'll be back later.” 

“Where did they go?” I asked. 

“They went to play pool and have some beer.” 

“Why didn't they tell me?” I started to cry suddenly. I didn't like waking up and them not being here!

“You were asleep and they didn't want to wake you, I said I'd keep an eye on you so they could go out. It's all right.” Thunder rumbled overhead and I gasped a little bit. He squeezed my shoulder. “There's nothing to be scared of, it's just a storm. It will blow over soon.” 

I put my head on his chest. “I don't like it,” I mumbled.

“Well, I'm here with you, and nothing bad is going to happen. Try to go back to sleep.”

“I can't, 'cause of the noise. It's too scary.” I turned my head and looked at the t.v. “What are you watching?” I asked.

“A ball game,” Grandpa John said. 

I sat up. “Can we look for a cooking show or something?” 

“No, I'm watching this, and you're supposed to be asleep.” 

“But baseball is bor-ing!” I protested.

“I happen to like it. If you're going to sit here and complain, then you should go back to bed.” He finished the bottle of beer that he was drinking.

“I don't want to,” I whined. “I'm scared of the storm.” 

“You can sit with me, but you have to sit quietly,” he told me. “No more complaining.” 

There was another long rumble of thunder and I tensed up. Grandpa John rubbed my back. I leaned on his chest again and closed my eyes. Then I opened my eyes and sat up.

“I, uh, hafta go potty,” I said. I got off of his lap and walked to the bathroom. When I came back out, he was at the little fridge getting out a beer for himself. I walked back over to the sofa and picked up the remote, and started to flip through the channels. 

He came over and sat down next to me, and then took the remote out of my hand. “What did I say before, huh? I'm watching the game right now. You should to be in bed, asleep.” He caught my eyes with his, and gave me a stern look. After a long moment, I dropped my eyes and looked down. 

“I'll let you sit up with me, but you need to mind me, little girl,” he said. He patted his thigh. “Put your head down and close your eyes.”

I laid down and put my head on his leg, and felt him rubbing my back again. I closed my eyes, and realized that the rain was only a very light patter now. It took me a long time, but I did fall back to sleep.

 

The next morning it was gray and damp outside. We couldn't go to the playground because it was very wet from the storm. I was feeling tired and grumpy, and Daddy and Uncle Sam looked tired too. We went to a diner for breakfast, and it was very busy and loud. It took a long time for our food to come and they messed up Daddy's order and didn't bring refills of coffee when Grandpa John asked for them. He had to ask three times. 

By the time we got back on the road, all of us were feeling out-of-sorts and cranky. I had been looking forward to getting to run around on the playground before we left, but the rain from the night before had prevented that. We were in the car for a couple of hours and I started to complain. I didn't like being in the car for a long time over and over, every day. I wasn't used to it, and it made me tired in a different way than running around did. 

“Daaaddyyyy, can we stop somewhere?” I asked him.

He glanced back at me. “You need a rest stop?”

“No, I just wanna get out. I'm tired of this!” I huffed and looked out the window.

“No, kiddo, we've got to keep going right now. Play your 3DS,” he told me.

“Don't wanna.” 

“Want to listen to some tunes?” Daddy reached for the radio.

“No, I'm not in the mood,” I said.

“Read one of the stories in your workbook and then we can go over the vocabulary words,” Uncle Sam turned to look at me.

“I don't want to,” I grumped. 

“Then do a page in your math book.” 

“Don't want to do that either! I'm tired of doin' schoolwork! I'm not in school!” I frowned at him. I didn't want to work right now!

“Read one of your books.”

“No! I'm tired of bein' in the car! I wanna get out!” I said loudly, kicking my feet and hitting the seat with my fists. My kicking feet knocked against the back of Daddy's seat, and he said sternly, “Hey, no kicking my seat!”

Uncle Sam frowned at me and then faced forward.

“You're just going to have to wait until we stop,” Daddy told me. 

“Why don't you color, or draw something,” Uncle Sam suggested. 

“You draw something!” I yelled, tired of him suggesting things. My temper flared, and I grabbed a handful of crayons and chucked them at him. 

“What th--” the car swerved as Daddy ducked away from the crayons flying through the air. “Jesus! What the hell, Charlie?” he yelled, glancing back at me. 

“Charlotte Anne! That was very dangerous!” Uncle Sam spun around to glare at me. “You do not throw things in the car, especially not up front!” 

I noticed that Daddy was slowing the car down and pulling over to the side of the road. 

“What are you doing?” I asked. 

“I told you, no more warnings,” Daddy said in a hard voice. “Immediate consequences.” He parked the car and got out, and then opened the back and got in next to me. He unbuckled my seatbelt and started to pull me down over his lap. I fought him and tried to pull away. 

“Daddy I'm sorry!” I said quickly.

“You're gonna be sorry after I'm done with you,” he growled, and he pulled me down and started to spank me. 

“You do not throw things in the car, ever! You do not do things that are dangerous! You could have caused an accident!” His hand kept falling as he lectured. “If you ever do something like that again, I will get out the paddle and paddle your ass until you can't sit down, do you understand me? And knock off the tantrums!”

“I'm sorry Daddy, I'm sorryyyyy!” I howled, and he continued to spank me, landing a few swats on the lowest part of my butt.

He stopped spanking and let me up. “Get all your drawing stuff together,” he said, picking the bag up. Uncle Sam turned and handed back the crayons I had thrown, and I put everything back in the bag. “You've lost this for the day. Now I suggest you find something else to do, something that is quiet, because I don't want to hear another peep out of you until we stop. You got it?” 

I looked up at him and nodded, tears pouring out of my eyes. He took the bag from me and got out of the car, walking around to the trunk and opening it. When he came back to the car, he had a blanket and a small pillow. He put them in the back and said, “I suggest you try and take a nap, and maybe that will get rid of some of your bad attitude. I'm not going to put up with it much longer. Get buckled.” 

He got into the front and I buckled my seat belt and wiped my face. It was the first time that Daddy hadn't comforted me after a spanking, and I felt sad. I guessed he was still mad at me. I had almost caused an accident because of my bad behavior. I pulled my legs up in front of me and put my arms around them, resting my head on my knees and crying quietly. 

 

When I woke up, I was leaning against the door of the car, with the pillow tucked between my head and the window, and the blanket over me. I realized the car wasn't moving.I sat up- Daddy and Uncle Sam had gotten out and were standing at the back of the car, talking to Grandpa John. I unbuckled and got out of the car, walking over to them slowly.We were in the parking lot of a restaurant. I wasn't sure what kind of mood they were in now, or if anyone was still mad at me. 

Grandpa John looked at me, and Daddy and Uncle Sam turned to me.

“I'm sorry,” I said, and ran to Daddy, throwing my arms around his waist. 

“I'm sorry too,” Daddy picked me up and hugged me. “I'm sorry I got angry at you and spanked you like that, I should have waited until I was calm. You shouldn't have thrown the crayons, but I don't like to spank when I'm angry.”

“I'm sorry I threw a tantrum and the crayons,” I said. Daddy kissed my cheek and squeezed me. “We're okay now.” 

Uncle Sam came over to us and I looked at him. “I'm sorry I threw the crayons at you,” I said sheepishly. He reached for me and I went to him, and he took my in his arms and hugged me too. “We had a rough morning, but it's okay. Are you ready to eat some lunch?” 

“Yeah,” I said. 

We walked into the restaurant, and Uncle Sam carried me in and set me down when we got inside. In the front part there was a tall fountain, and a sign that said you could throw coins in it and make a wish.

“Can I make a wish?” I took Daddy's hand and looked up at him. 

“What?” he asked. I pointed at the sign. 

“Oh,” he said, “Maybe later, okay? Let's eat right now.” 

“Can I have lots of money?” I asked.

Uncle Sam chuckled. “For what?”

“ 'Cause I want to make lots of wishes!” 

All three of them chuckled at that. “We'll see,” Uncle Sam said, ruffling my hair. We were shown to a table and given menus. Grandpa John got a phone call and got up to walk outside. He was gone for several minutes. 

He came back in when the waiter was taking our orders. He ordered a sandwich and a large coffee to go. 

“Where are you going?” I asked him. 

“Well, I got asked to help a friend of mine who is...investigating something in the next town over. I'm going to help him, it should only take a day or so, and I'll meet up with you at Missouri's.” He smiled at me and tweaked my nose. “You keep behaving and I'll take you out for ice cream when we meet up again.” 

“And candy too,” I reminded him.

“What?” he frowned. 

“Remember, you said it's the grandparent's job to fill their grandkid up with candy and send them back to their parents- you still haven't done that with me!” I told him. The three of them laughed again. 

“How do you remember this stuff?” Grandpa John shook his head. 

“Charlie always knows what she wants,” Uncle Sam said. 

The waiter appeared with a styrofoam box and large cup, and handed them to Grandpa John. 

“All right,” he said, “I'm off. I'll see you in a couple of days. Be good, you three.” He got up and left, and then the waiter was bringing our food. 

After we ate, we used to rest rooms and then started to leave. I pulled on Uncle Sam's hand.

“Wait, I need to make a wish!” I reminded him when we were at the fountain.

“Oh, right,” he stopped and put his hand in his pockets. 

“Come on, Charlie, let's go,” Daddy said.

“But you said I could make a wish!” I protested. 

“I said maybe. We need to get back on the road,” he said sternly. 

“Here,” Uncle Sam held his hand out, “Here's two pennies, make 2 wishes, okay?”

“Thanks!” I said, hugging him. I closed my eyes and made two wishes, and then opened my eyes and looked up at him. “I'm done!” 

“All right then, let's get this show on the road,” Daddy said. We got back into the car and drove for a couple of hours. I read some of the stories in the workbook but didn't practice spelling the words with Uncle Sam.

The car started to make a funny noise. Daddy had had the radio on, and he turned it off and opene the window so he could listen to the engine. 

“It's not the timing belt,” he said to himself, “Could be the alternator.” He glanced over at Uncle Sam. “Next town we come to, I'm going to stop so I can take a look at the engine.” 

“Fine with me,” Uncle Sam said. 

 

Daddy found a large gas station that had a convenience store attached that was big enough that it even sold some stuff for cars, like oil and some small parts.

Daddy parked at a pump and opened the hood and spent a few minutes looking things over. Uncle Sam walked me to the rest room and then we came back to the car.  
It was very busy with people getting gas and also stopping to buy things from the little store. Daddy had put the nozzle in the gas tank and was leaning on the car, when a woman with long dark hair came out of the store. She had 2 huge bags of ice in her arms. 

“Dean? Dean Winchester?” I heard her say. I saw Daddy turn, and he walked over to her. They began to talk, and then he took a bag of ice from her and they walked over to a car. After they had put the bags of ice in her front seat, he hugged her. She got into her car and he came back to us. He closed the hood of the car and put the nozzle back in the pump.

“I just saw an old friend of mine,” Daddy said as he got into the front seat, seeming excited, “I had no idea she lives here now. We're going to stop over for a visit, okay?” 

“Who is it?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Lisa...you remember, about 10 years ago... you and Dad were on that banshee case. That loooong weekend I spent with her... she's a yoga instructor...”

“Oh,” Uncle Sam said, “We're going to ...stop for a visit?” 

“Yeah, she said she's having a party today, we can get some free grub. And I can, you know, catch up with her...” 

We followed her to a neighborhood with big houses, and Daddy parked at the curb. There were a few houses still being built down the stret, and realtor signs all over. 

We got out, and Daddy walked over to her car to grab a bag of ice for her.

“Lisa, this is my brother, Sam, and my daughter, Charlie,” Daddy said, “This is Lisa, she's an old...friend.”

“Oh, Sam, I remember Dean talking about you,” Lisa said. She had warm brown eyes. She looked at me. “And this is...Charlie? Well Charlie, I hope you like lots of noise and bouncy houses, because we've got a big one out back and it's a very noisy party!” 

As we walked up the sidewalk with Lisa, the front door opened, and a boy came onto the front porch. He had short dark hair and brown eyes.

“Hey Mom, Gavin just got here, and his present is huge!” he said excitedly. 

“That's great, honey,” Lisa said. She turned to us. “This is my son, Ben, he's turning 10 in a couple of days.” 

Ben looked...familiar. He was wearing a shirt that said AC/DC and a plaid shirt with the collar turned up. 

“You like AC/DC?” Daddy asked him.

“Yeah, classic rock is the best!” Ben said with a grin. 

Lisa rolled her eyes. “I have no idea where he gets that from,” she said with a shake of her head.

Ben looked past us. “Is that your car?” he asked.

“Yep, 1967 Chevy Impala,” Daddy said proudly.

“Sweet ride!” Ben said, his grin getting bigger.

“Thanks dude!” Daddy said.

I looked at Ben, and then I looked at Daddy, who was grinning back at Ben. They had the same smile. Then I realized why Ben looked familiar. He looked a lot like my Daddy! 

 

We walked into the house and went into the kitchen. Lisa opened a bag of ice and poured it into a large cooler. 

Daddy was looking at Ben like he was studying him. “H-how old did you say he was?” he asked.

“He'll be turning 10 on Tuesday,” Lisa said. 

Daddy looked at Uncle Sam, who had raised his eyebrows, and it was like they were doing that talking without words thing again. Daddy handed Uncle Sam the car keys. 

“Why don't you go get us a room somewhere...we might be here for a day or two, I want to look over the car better and...I might need to.. figure some things out,” Daddy said. 

“All right...give me a call,” Uncle Sam said. I went over to him and hugged him, and then he left.

“Hey,” Ben said to me, “Want to see the bouncy house? It's got a basketball hoop inside!” 

“Okay,” I said, and I looked at Daddy.

“Go ahead,” he nodded at me. 

I started to follow Ben to the back door.

“Don't forget to take your shoes off!” Lisa called after us. 

 

Ben and I were jumping in the bouncy house. “Hey, if we bounce together, we can get so high that your head will hit the ceiling!” he said excitedly, “Wanna try it?”

“Sure!” I said.

“Grab my hands!” he reached for me and I took his hands, and we started to jump together. As soon as our hands touched, I knew...somehow I saw it, I saw Ben being held by his Mom as a baby, and I saw a connection to my Daddy...I knew... my Daddy was also Ben's Daddy!

Our heads bumped the ceiling of the bouncy house just as I felt the knowing in my head, and I let go of him and fell backwards with a yell.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked as I tried to sit up.

“Yeah, I just...don't feel good...need a minute...” I mumbled, and I scrambled out of the bouncy house and walked quickly over to the table where all the food was.

I leaned down and put my hands on my knees, breathing heavy. How could that be, that my Daddy was also Ben's Daddy? I didn't understand it.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some dialogue from the Supernatural episode “The Kids Are Alright”, Season 3, episode 2.

“Hot dogs and hamburgers are ready!” A man called, and a woman brought a huge platter over to the table with a bunch of cooked hot dogs and hamburgers. She set it down, and people started to line up at one of of the tables and grab plates and stuff. 

Daddy came over to me. “You hungry? Let's get in line.” 

I followed him over to the line of people that had started to gather, and he looked down at me. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, although my voice shook. 

He frowned a little. “Are you sure?” 

“Uh-huh,” I said, and I turned to look at a bunch of kids who were running past. “This is a big party!”

“Yeah, it is,” Daddy agreed. “Ben must have a lot of friends.” He looked down at me again. “Did you go in the bouncy house?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said. He took my chin in his hand and lifted my face so I would look at him. “Are you sure you're okay?” 

“Yeah, uh, why?” I lied. 

“You look...funny. And you're not acting like you usually do. I thought you'd be really excited to be here, it's a chance to run around and play with other kids.” He let go of my chin. “Well, if you say you're okay, then I believe you.”

We had gotten to the table at that point. Lisa and a couple of other women were serving people. 

“You're a new face,” a woman with short red hair said to Daddy. 

“I'm, uh, an old friend of Lisa's,” Daddy told her.

“Oh, are you new in town? Let me give you my card, I'm with Cicero Realty, and we've got a lot of new houses going up in this neightborhood.”

“Dean, this is Mrs. Wheeler, she's my realtor, and as you just heard, she sells houses in the area,” Lisa said. She was trying to open a big jar of pickles. Daddy took it from her and opened it, then handed it back to her. 

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Dean.”

Daddy took the card the woman was holding out and stuck it in his pocket. “Well, thanks, but we're just passing through.”

“Oh,” said the realtor. “Well, if you decide you want to settle here, you give me a call!” 

Daddy and I filled our plates with food and then started to walk over to one of the large trees.

“Oh, I'm going to go get a drink, you want one?” he asked me.

“Can I have a soda?” I looked up at him.

“Sure, be right back,” he said. I walked over to the tree and stood under it. There were chairs set up all over. On the other side of the tree, two women were sitting down with plates of food.

I heard the woman with long blond hair say, “Did you hear Lisa call him 'Dean'?”

The second woman, who had short brown hair, said, “Yeah, why?”

The blonde woman leaned in to her, “You don't know about Dean? The Dean? 'Best-night-of-my-life' Dean?”

The brown-haired woman looked at her and said, “No! Tell me!” urgently.

The blonde woman leaned closer, and said, “Oh, my God, so, they had this crazy, semi-illegal --” She stopped talking and I turned. Daddy was coming over to me. He handed me a can of soda and said, “Want to sit down under the tree?”

“Um, let's go somewhere else,” I said. I wanted to get away from the two women who were talking about my Daddy, hearing them made me feel funny. 

“All right,” Daddy looked around. “Hey, there's a couple of seats over there.” We walked over to a table. There were a few kids sitting around with their parents. We were busy eating for a few minutes. 

When I put my napkin on my plate, Daddy looked at me. “Let's go over some rules, Charlie,” he said. “I don't want you going off by yourself, and by that I mean no leaving the yard or house, and you let me know where you're going to be, got it?”   
“Okay, Daddy,” I said.  
“You're going to be playing with other kids. What's a good rule to remember?”   
“Uh, no hitting or putting my hands on another kid, and come and tell you if they're bothering me.”   
He reached out and ruffled my hair. “Good girl,” he said with a smile. He took my plate from me. “I'll take care of this, you go play, okay? I'm going to go talk to Lisa.”   
I watched him walk over to a big trash can and throw away our garbage, and then he walked over to the table where Lisa was cleaning up the birthday cake and leftover gift wrap. He leaned over to talk to her, and then he helped her pick some stuff up. They walked into the house together.   
I looked over at Ben. He and some of the other boys were playing with action figures. I walked over to them.   
“Whatcha doin'?” I asked.  
“Playing Batman versus X-Men,” a blond boy said, “You can't play, you're a girl,” he said dismissively.  
“Why not? I love the X-Men! Hey, is that the new Wolverine action figure?” I asked Ben.   
“Yeah, I already have this one,” he said sheepishly, “My grandma sent it to me, but I got one last month when I got all A's on my report card.”   
“I have the one that came out when the first movie came out,” I said. “He has the old outfit on.”   
“Here,” Ben said, holding it out to me. “You can have this one since I already have it.”   
“But- but you just got it as a present!” I protested.   
He shook his head. “Nah, I don't like Wolverine that much anyway,” he pushed the action figure at me. “Go ahead, it's okay. It's my present and I can do what I want with it!”   
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Thanks!” I remembered that I wasn't supposed to read the X-Men comics any more, but I didn't know if that meant I couldn't play with the toys. Uncle Sam had taken the comics and my action figures and put them away, but he wasn't here right now, and I was only going to be playing with it for a little while, I told myself. I would tell Daddy later that Ben had given it to me.   
We played with them for a little while, and I watched Ben. Sometimes the way he talked and moved reminded me of Daddy. I had to go talk to Daddy and tell him. I felt nervous- would he believe me? Or would he get angry like people used to when I told them things?   
I put the Wolverine action figure in my pocket and went into the house to find Daddy. The kitchen was empty, but I heard voices in the dining room. I walked in, and he and Lisa were standing next to the table, close together, talking in low voices.  
I walked over to Daddy and and stood there. He didn't look at me at first. I grabbed his arm. “Daddy...Dad...I need to talk to you.” 

He was looking into Lisa's eyes. “Daddy!” I repeated.

He turned his head. “What, Charlie?”

“I need to talk to you,” I said again. 

“It's okay, we can pick this up later. It's about time to open the presents,” Lisa said. 

Daddy turned to me as she walked away. “What is it?” Daddy asked me. I walked into the living room and he followed me, and then I turned around and faced him. I felt nervous and uncomfortable. 

“Daddy, I don't know how to say this...”  
“Then just say it,” he said, frowning a little. 

“Uh, well, did you know that, uh, Ben is, uh, your... that, uh, you're his...you're his Daddy?” I looked up at him and watched his face. 

He looked stunned. “What are you...how do you know this, Charlie?” he asked.

“I saw it, Daddy,” I explained. 

“Is this something you...know?” his voice was uncertain.

I nodded. “We were holding hands and jumping together in the bouncy house and I felt it and I just knew...Daddy, how is that possible?”

“Well, Lisa and I were... together for a while... before,” Daddy said slowly.

“You mean like boyfriend and girlfriend?”

“Kind of...” he cleared his throat. As I watched, his face went from nervous to relieved and then proud. 

“Wow, I have a son,” he rubbed his hand over his face. “I have a son!” he repeated, and his voice was proud too. 

“Come on, let's go watch. Lisa said they're doing the cake after he opens his presents,” Daddy took my hand. I walked with him, not sure what to say. I had lots of questions. What was going to happen? Would he tell Lisa what I knew and about how I knew things? Would she even believe him? How would we prove it? Would that mean that we would all have to live together? Would Daddy and Lisa get married? Would we have to move in here with them? What if Lisa and Ben didn't like me?

We walked outside again and watched as Ben opened all his presents. I looked at Daddy and he was watching Ben with his eyes shining and a big smile on his face. It made me feel funny inside. I don't think Daddy had ever looked at me like that. What if Daddy decided that he didn't want me? I had been so bad with him, misbehaving and being sassy all the time, stealing, and I tried to do a spell! What if Ben was a really really good kid and Daddy decided that he wanted to stay here and be with Ben and his Mommy for the rest of his life? And he didn't want me any more? Where would I go then?

 

I turned my attention back to Ben. He was excitedly tearing into the wrapping paper of yet another present. He tossed the paper on the ground and turned the package over in his hand. It was an action figure of Batman with some little accessories.   
“Wow, cool!” Ben said, and a couple of the boys that were grouped around him chimed in with their comments. 

Ben put the package on the table and grabbed another present and started tearing the paper. 

“Hold it, Ben,” Lisa said with a laugh. “Let's figure out who this is from, you're getting ahead of me here!” 

Ben turned the gift over. “Says it's from...Tyler.” He glanced around and caught a boy's eye. “Thanks dude!” he said, and then began to tear the paper off. 

I looked at the pile of toys on the table that was rapidly growing. I tried not to feel jealous but I couldn't help it. My birthday had always been pretty quiet, I'd had a couple of big parties when I was younger, but we didn't have a lot of relatives and I never seemed to have that many friends either. The apartment building we lived in was mostly adults or older people, or families with little kids, so there wasn't anyone to really invite to a party.

And, for the last two years my mom had been sick or having treatments or recovering, so we hadn't done much for my birthday. This past year we hadn't done anything, my mom had been throwing up a lot that whole week and could barely get out of bed. I did a lot of laundry and ate a lot of microwave soup. On the day of my birthday I felt mad in the morning when I got up and saw that there was nothing there for me...and then I saw my mommy laying on the sofa and she was ghostly pale with huge dark circles under her eyes and her lips were dry and cracked. Then I felt guilty for getting angry. She hadn't even known it was my birthday and I didn't say anything. A couple of weeks after that when she had started to feel a little better she had said something about realizing she had missed it, but then she had another treatment, and it was hard on her again, and we went through the same thing as before. And I just pushed down my want of having any sort of celebration of my birthday that year. 

I gulped against the sob that was rising in my throat and blinked my eyes rapidly so that I wouldn't start to cry. I felt like a big baby-- here I was at someone else's birthday party and I was getting all upset because I wanted a party. I took a deep breath and clenched my fists to try and distract myself. 

“Hey,” Daddy said, “what's going on, Charlie?”

I glanced at him and he was looking down at me. When he saw my face he got concerned. He leaned down. “Are you okay, kiddo?” His eyes searched mine. 

I felt like bursting into tears, but I took another deep breath. “It just reminds me that—I didn't, uh, I didn't get to have a, a party or anything the last two years... 'cause my mom was so sick.”

“What, you mean you didn't celebrate your birthday?” he asked.

I shook my head. “At all?” I shook my head again and bit my lip.

“Not even a cake?” he asked. For the third time, I shook my head. 

He put his hand on top of my head, and said, “I'm so sorry that happened, I'm sure it was rough for you. We'll have to make sure we do something really fun for you this year, okay kiddo?” 

“Okay, Daddy,” I said, and my voice cracked. I cleared my throat and put my arms around his waist and hugged him. 

“Thanks,” I said softly, but I don't think he heard me, because at that point Ben had opened up a big present and it was a big remote-controlled helicopter. All of the kids were “ooh-ing and aah-ing” over it. 

“All right,” Lisa said, picking up a trash bag filled with used wrapping paper. “Get ready to sing, it's time for cake!” 

Ben looked around. “Where's Charlie?” He saw me standing next to Daddy. “Charlie, come sit here!” he called to me, patting the table next to him. 

I walked over as Ben was saying to the kid sitting there, “Hey, let her sit there.” 

Ben smiled at me as I sat down. We heard the door slide open, and then his mom was walking over slowly holding a big flat cake with lit candles on it. Everyone started to sing, and she put the cake in front of Ben. When the song was finished he leaned forward and blew out the candles, and everyone clapped. 

“Oh, can someone bring me those dessert plates? They're over on the table,” Lisa said. She leaned over and started to take the candles out of the cake. 

Ben picked one up and looked at me. “I like to lick the icing off the candles,” he said with a grin. He handed me a candle. “Try it!” 

He and I licked the icing off of all of the candles and put them on a napkin. I looked over at Daddy and he was watching us and smiling.

“Becky, can you bring out the ice cream? There's two tubs in the freezer, thanks,” she said to a woman standing on the other side of the table. She picked up a cake server and started to cut into the cake. 

“All right, birthday boy, do you want a corner or a middle piece?” she asked Ben.

“I want a corner!” he said. He looked at me. “Do you like the icing? I love it!”

“It's okay,” I said. 

“Then you probably want the piece next to it,” Lisa said to me. She handed me a piece next. The other woman walked over with the ice cream and opened the tubs and started scooping it out. The cake was chocolate and I got a scoop of chocolate ice cream too. 

“Thank you,” I said, when my plate was handed to me. 

Ben looked at me. “You like chocolate?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Me too, it's the best!” he agreed, taking a huge bite of cake.

After the cake and ice cream had been served and eaten, Lisa said loudly, “All right, I have a surprise! We're going to have a water gun battle!” 

She walked over to a shed and pulled out a couple of big plastic bins. There were lots of those huge water guns that shoot long streams of water in the bins, and there were buckets of water to refill the guns. All the kids crowded around to grab a gun, and I stood off to the side and waited for the crowd to go away. 

As I stepped up to the bin, a tall boy stepped up at the same time. He and I leaned down to the bin at the same time and reached for a gun. He pushed my hand away. 

“I want that one,” he said, and he grabbed it, then pushed me again when he straightened up. I didn't say anything, just picked up one of the other water guns and the stood up. I looked over at Daddy again and he had been watching. He smiled at me- I guess he was happy that I didn't push the boy back. Maybe I was learning how to behave better.

Everyone started running around hiding and trying to shoot people and spray them with the water guns. It got very noisy and chaotic for a while. A couple of the men that were there, including Daddy, picked up the water guns that were left and joined in with us. Then one of the Dads turned on the hose on the side of the house and kept squirting kids with that when they would run by. Everyone got wet and there was lots of screaming and laughing. It was a lot of fun. 

When kids finally got tired of that, it was time for the party to be over, and kids started to leave. I found Daddy sitting in a chair underneath a tree.

“Are we gonna go soon?” I asked. I was tired and getting hungry again and my clothes were damp.

“Well, I wanted to talk to Lisa about... things, so no.”

“But Daddy, I'm tired of being here,” I complained. “Can't we call Uncle Sam to come and get me?” 

“No, he's not going to want to drive here just to pick you up and then come back for me later. Lisa's got to say good bye to all the people leaving, and I can talk to her after that. Just wait for a while. Go play in the bouncy house again.”

“But Daddyyy-”

“Stop whining, or I'll put you in time out,” Daddy said sternly. “I don't want to hear it.” 

“Fine!” I scowled at him and stomped away. 

“Charlie!” he called. “Charlie, come back here!”

I stopped and turned around. He crooked his finger at me. 

I walked over slowly. He leaned forward, and said quietly, “You want to nip that attitude in the bud right now, or else.”

“Or else what?” I snapped, crossing my arms. 

He got mad. “Or else I will take you inside and give you a spanking. Is that what you want?” His narrowed his eyes at me. 

“No,” I gulped. 

“Then stow it, and behave. Now go play,” he turned me and gave my bottom a gentle swat, and I walked away from him. 

I went into the bouncy house again. Ben and a couple of other kids were in there too.

“If you jump lots and lots it will dry your clothes off!” said a little girl. We all tried to hold hands and jump together but one of us would jump at the wrong time and we kept all falling down. It was funny and we were laughing a lot. 

Finally the moms came and got their kids, and Ben and I went into the kitchen.

“We've got some leftover hot dogs and hamburgers if you want,” Lisa said to us.

“Could I have a hot dog, please?” I asked her. She got it for me and I sat at the counter and ate it. She offered me some potato chips too, and got me a juice box.

“So, you're Dean's daughter?” she asked. She was putting leftovers into plastic bowls with lids. 

“Yeah, but I only just met him,” I said.

She stopped. “Oh?”

“Yeah, uh, my mommy, she, uh, she, passed...away recently,” I explained, looking down at my plate. 

“Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry,” she came over and put her hand on my arm. “I'm sure it's been quite a change for you, huh?” 

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Dean's a good guy, though,” she said. “I'm sure he wants only the best for you.” She smiled at me and went back to the food. 

I didn't know what else to say, so I ate quietly. She asked what grade I was going into and the kinds of things I like to do, and I told her. I finished eating and threw my trash away, and then went to find Daddy. I went out onto the back deck.

Daddy and Ben were in the yard, throwing a football back and forth.

“You've got an amazing arm, Ben,” Daddy said to him. “Do you do any sports?”

“I've been playing baseball since I was 5,” Ben said proudly.

“That's awesome! I'd love to come and watch one of your games,” Daddy held his arm back. “Go long and try and catch this.” 

Ben backed up and Daddy threw the ball high into the air, and Ben ran after it and caught it.

Daddy laughed. “You've got an incredible eye too!” he said admiringly. “You're great, kiddo!”

A wave of jealousy overtook me. 'Kiddo' is what Daddy called me! And Daddy had never done anything like this with me, he did take me to play miniature golf and he pushed me on the swings, but he never threw a ball to me or even asked if I wanted to. And he had never complimented me like that or looked at me the way he was looking at Ben right now.

The sliding glass door opened. “Ben, your grandma is on the phone,” Lisa called. “You need to eat something, want a hot dog or hamburger?”

Ben ran over and came up on the deck, and Daddy followed him. 

“Dean, you want something?” Lisa asked.

“Sure, just heat me up whatever's left,” Daddy said. Ben went inside and Lisa shut the door. Daddy looked at me. “What's up, Charlie?” he asked. 

I glared at him. He looked at me questioningly. I turned and stomped away. 

He followed me, and took my arm. “Hey, talk to me, kiddo,” he said.

I spun around to face him. “I thought Ben was your kiddo!” I spat.

“What- what are you talking about?” Daddy's face was confused. 

“You're out here playing ball with him, and the way you're talking--” I couldn't help it, my voice was nasty.

Daddy stepped back as if I'd hit him, and then his face changed.

“So we threw the ball around a little. Just what is your problem?” he hissed at me.

“You are!” I snapped. “You're my problem!” 

“And what the hel- what is that supposed to mean?” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“You-- you're acting like-- he--he's--” I stumbled over my words in my anger.

“Oh, is this really about Ben? Are you jealous? How can you be jealous of a kid you just met?” 

“Because of how you're acting! You're acting like he's soooo great, and you're just thrilled to find out that you have another kid, a boy, and I-- “ I stopped and took a deep breath because I could feel tears coming and I didn't want to cry, because I was still too angry. 

“You are behaving very immaturely and selfishly!” Daddy said. “I am not happy with you at all!” 

“Then why don't you get rid of me?” I sneered. “Since perfect Ben is your perfect Goddamn son!” 

Daddy's eyes got big and he stepped forward and grabbed my arm, pulling me close to him. He bent down so that his face was in my face. 

“First of all,” he said in a deadly calm voice, “you do not speak to me like that, ever.” His green eyes were flashing angrily at me. 

“Second of all, you do not swear at me.” His eyes flicked back and forth between mine. “When we get to the hotel tonight, you have an appointment with a bar of soap and the paddle.” 

He straightened up, and then turned me and swatted my butt. “Go stand in the corner while I talk to Lisa. I'm going to call Uncle Sam to come pick us up.” 

Tears filled my eyes. He landed another, harder swat on my rear end. “Go!”

I opened the sliding glass door and he followed me in and pointed to a corner of the dining room.

I walked to the corner and stood there, looking down at my feet. I heard him leave the room. This was terrible. I wanted to run around screaming and breaking things. I had just gotten a Daddy and and Uncle and a Grandfather, and here it could all get taken away by this boy. Just watching how Daddy was with Ben had hurt me deeply. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to say what was in my heart. I felt like I had no family now. My mommy was dead and my daddy was about to get taken away by this new boy and his mommy. And I was probably going to get thrown out just like that bag of used wrapping paper. 

I heard footsteps walk by in the kitchen and then the sliding door open and close.   
After a few minutes I realized I was crying. Tears were pouring down my face. I knew what I had to do. I turned and walked out of the room, walking quickly throught the kitchen and slipping out the back door.

Ben was on the back deck, tossing the football in the air and catching it. 

“Hey,” he said when I came near. “Whatcha doin'? Wanna play?” He caught the ball and held it out to me.

“N-no,” I mumbled.

He looked at me closely. “Are you okay? Are you- are you crying?”

I shook my head and turned away. “I'm leaving,” I said, “My Daddy doesn't want me any more, he wants you, so congratulations.” 

Ben looked confused. “What do you mean, he wants me? We just met, and I don't even know him!” 

I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. I walked down the steps. 

“Hey,” he said, “Where are you gonna go?”

“I don't know,” I said, “Somewhere far away from here.” 

“Okay, well, I'll help you,” he said, “There's an empty house down the street that you can stay in, it's still being built but they stopped working on it because the buyer fell through. That's what Mrs. Wheeler told my mom. No one goes there at all. And there's a bus that runs during the week and stops on that corner.” 

“Okay,” I said. 

“C'mon, I'll show you the house. It's really cool!” 

I followed him as we made our way walking through people's back and side yards.  
Ben would tell me something about each house we walked by. “This is Mrs. Murray's house, she has three little yorkies that bark all the time, it's really annoying when she walks them...this is Dr. Evan's house, he's retired and he travels a lot...this is my friend Seth's house but they're on vacation right now...” 

We got to the empty house. It was at the very end of the road, and the outside frame was built and some of the walls but the inside was very open and there was only foam stuffing in the walls. 

Both of us gasped when Mrs. Wheeler came walking in.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. I got a weird feeling from her.

“Uh, I was just, uh, showing her around,” Ben said. 

“Oh,” Mrs. Wheeler said. “I thought you were here to see the puppies.”

“Puppies?” Ben asked, and glanced at me.

“Yes, a stray dog came into the house and gave birth to a litter of puppies, they're so small and cute! Would you each like to hold one? They're in the next room,” she told us.

“Yeah! I love puppies!” Ben said, his eyes shining. 

We followed her, but the room was empty. She turned towards me and grabbed my hand, pulling me to her. I looked up and her face had changed, I saw her true self, her face and skin were gray and blotchy and her eyes were weird, and she had a round mouth that had sharp teeth sticking out. I started to scream and that's when she pinched my neck, and everything started to go black.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, there is some dialogue from the Supernatural episode, "The Kids Are Alright", Season 3, episode 2, in this chapter.

"Lottie, the pancakes are ready!" my Mommy called to me.

"Coming, Mommy!" I called back. I finished brushing my hair and ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway, colliding with my Daddy.

"Oof! Slow down there, sweetheart!" my Daddy said with a chuckle.

"Pancakes, Daddy! Gotta eat them while they're hot!" I told him. He ruffled my hair as we walked into the kitchen. I sat down at the table, where a plate had been set out already, and started to eat. My Daddy went over to the stove where my Mommy was standing, and kissed her. He poured himself a mug of coffee from the coffee maker and came over to the table, sitting down next to me.

"I wanted to remind you, Uncle Sam will be picking you up from school this afternoon," my Daddy said to me. "I'll drop your duffle off with him this morning when we leave."

He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up. "Here's a house key, I'll put in in the outside pocket in case you need to come back and get anything, all right?" "  
"Okay, Daddy," I said, smiling at him.  
"You be good for Uncle Sam and Aunt Jess this weekend, all right?" my Daddy gave me a look. "I don't want to get any reports about bad behavior."

"I will," I said.

My Mommy walked over and slid a small stack of pancakes onto the platter than was on the table. "Here's some more. Sweetie, Aunt Jess told me that she has a surprise for you. Something fun for the two of you to do together."

"Ooh, I wonder what it is!" I said excitedly.

"Eat some pancakes, hon," my Mommy said to my Daddy.

"Don't mind if I do," my Daddy pulled the platter towards him. "This is my plate, right?" he teased, grinning at me.

"Dad-dy!" I said, grinning back at him.

"All right, finish up, Lottie, the bus will be here in a couple of minutes," my Mommy told me.

I shoved the last couple pieces of pancake into my mouth and took my plate and fork over to the sink. Then I walked over to my Daddy. He scooted his chair back and pulled me into his arms for a hug and a kiss.

"Have a great weekend," he said.

"You too. I'll miss you guys," I looked into his green eyes.

"We'll miss you too...while we're relaxing in the hot tub with glasses of wine..." he teased again.

"No fair!" I did a pretend pout. He laughed and let me go, giving my bottom a pat. "We'll go on a family vacation this summer, but this time it's the grown-up's turn."

"I know," I said. My Mommy brought me my Hello Kitty backpack and I put it on. We walked outside and down three houses to the bus stop on the corner.  
We stood there holding hands for a moment. The day was bright and warm and I could hear birds singing. 

We heard my Daddy calling down the street. "Liz! Hey Liz, you have a phone call!"

"All right, be there in a sec," she called back. She leaned down and hugged me and kissed my cheek. "Be good and have fun, all right? We'll see you Sunday," she said. She started to walk back towards our house. 

I heard the engine of the bus as it came around the corner. My school bus came from the opposite direction so that I had to cross the street and walk around the bus to get on it. I watched as it came to a stop, and then I looked both ways and started to walk across the road. All of a sudden, a car came out of nowhere. I heard a screeching sound and a loud crashing sound, and I felt pain as the car plowed into me.

Then I was laying on the ground, and I was hurting all over.

"Mommy...Daddy..." I whispered.

A lady with short red hair was leaning over me. "Little girl...little girl...be still!" she said with annoyance, and I wanted to tell her that I was being still, but then the back of my neck hurt. She sat me up and leaned me forward and leaned down over me...the back of my neck was burning and throbbing...

"Charlie!" I heard someone calling, but it wasn't my Mommy or my Daddy. "Charrrlieeee, are you there?"

I could feel something sharp in the back of my neck, poking, and pressure. The burning sting went all the way down the back of my neck into my spine. I opened my eyes, back in the dark underground place where she had brought me and Ben. She had taken me out of the cage again and was...doing whatever she did when she attached her mouth to the back of my neck. My muscles were sore, and I hurt everywhere. I had fought her the first two times, and she had hit me to make me be still. Then she had tied me up so that I couldn't fight her anymore or try to get away again. I felt her release the back of my neck, and I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't have to see her mottled gray skin and dark empty eyes and sharp teeth. I felt her pulling me along the floor and then I heard the creak of a cage door, and I knew she was putting me back in. I heard the clank of the lock falling into place and then her footsteps walking away.

"Mommy...Daddy..." I whispered again, trying to go back into my mind, and then everything went gray...

 

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

"So...Lis...I need to, ah, talk to you," Dean said hesitantly.

Lisa perched on the arm of the sofa and crossed her arms. "Okay," she nodded.

"So, I, uh ... met Ben, he's a cool kid," Dean told her.

"Yeah," Lisa smiled proudly and nodded again.

"Yeah..." Dean nodded in response to her. "You know, I couldn't help but notice that, uh, he's turning ten. You and me ... you know..."

Lisa chuckled after a moment, realization dawning on her face. "You're not ... trying to ask me if he's yours?"

Dean shook his head. "No... nah, of course not."

They both chuckled briefly, and looked at each other.

"Uh, he's not, is he? I mean...did you ever have any kind of...testing done?" Dean looked uncomfortable.

Lisa shook her head. "No, I never thought I would need it, you know, I never thought...well to be honest, I never thought I'd see you again. I'm happy with Ben, and we're happy with our lives the way they are."

Dean looked even more uncomfortable. "Well, here's the thing... I happen to know...that Ben is my kid."

Lisa stood up, turning towards Dean fully and drawing herself up. "And just how do you know this?" she looked at him suspiciously. "What are you, some kind of creepy stalker? Have you been—I mean, come to think of it, I haven't heard word one from you in ten years, and then all of a sudden you show up when my son is turning 10—what's going on, Dean? Who the hell are you, really? And what do you want with my son?"

Dean held his hands up, palms out, like he was surrendering. "It's not- I mean, no, I'm not a creepy stalker. I just got- I mean," he sighed. "Okay, let me start further back. Several years ago I got 'involved' for a short while with this woman, Liz, and... a couple of weeks ago she called me out of the blue. Turns out she had gotten pregnant, and had a little girl. But the thing is, see, she'd been fighting cancer for a couple years, and she had just gotten new test results back that she was dying this time around because the treatments...they didn't take, or they stopped working, or the cancer was too aggressive, I don't know." Dean sighed.

"Oh my God, that's horrible," Lisa said softly.

Dean nodded. "Yeah. So she asked me, she wanted me to take custody of her kid- no, of our kid, and take care of her after...after she...well, you know."

Lisa nodded.

"So I met Charlie, and some things happened, and Liz...passed, so now I have her. Charlie, I mean. It's been kinda rocky, but she's great-"

"Yeah, she seems like a real sweetie," Lisa said.

"Yeah, and she's really smart too," Dean said proudly. "Anyway, one of the things...we discovered that Charlie, um, well, to put it plainly, she knows things about people when she touches them."

Lisa frowned. "What do you mean? Like a psychic?"

"Well, yeah. Apparently she started doing it when she was little, well, I mean, she didn't try to do it, she'd touch someone and would just know something and then blurt it out. She'd get in trouble for it too, like she uncovered when she was three that her great- uncle was a closet drunk and she blurted out that he took secret drinks from a little silver bottle."

"Oh geez, the poor little thing!" Lisa said sympathetically.

"Yeah, she said she tried really hard to make it stop, and she was able to for a while. But now it's started up again, and when she touches someone, she calls it "seeing", and she knows something about them, something that's secret or unknown."

"And she..."saw"...something about Ben?" now Lisa was hesitant.

Dean exhaled and nodded. "Yeah, she saw that there was a... connection... between him and me, that I was his father."

Lisa crossed her arms so that she was hugging herself. "My God, I have goosebumps. Is this for real, Dean? I mean, you aren't just pulling my leg?"

Dean spread his hands out. "It's as real as you and me standing here."

"Well...wow...that's, I mean, that's just..." she shook her head. She looked at Dean. "Well, what do we do with that knowledge?"

"I...I don't know, Lis. I don't know. I guess we both need to sit down and figure out what we want to do," Dean said.

Lisa closed her eyes for a long moment, and then when she opened them she exhaled deeply. "Well, I guess we have some talking to do. And we need to decide what to tell the kids. Actually, what to tell my kid, yours already knows, I guess, right?" She smiled at him.

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That's probably Sam," Dean told Lisa. "I called him to come get us right before we started talking."

"Okay," Lisa said. They left the study and walked down the hall to the living room. Lisa went to the front door to open it, and Dean called, "Charlie? Uncle Sam's here. You can come out of time out now. Come here, please."

Lisa opened the door and let Sam come into the house. He nodded at her.

"Have you eaten dinner? We've got loads of leftover food, I can heat you up a hot dog or hamburger if you'd like," she offered.

"Thanks, um, actually, a hamburger sounds good," Sam told her. He looked over at Dean. "So...how'd it go?" Dean had told him briefly on the phone that Charlie had "seen" that Ben was his son and that he was going to talk to Lisa about it.

"I've got a lot to tell you, man," Dean said. "Hold on- Charlie!" Dean called, walking into the dining room. The room was empty.

Dean walked into the kitchen, where Lisa was taking food out and plating it. "You seen Charlie?" he asked, feeling mildly annoyed.

"No, maybe she and Ben went out back, or in the bouncy house?" Lisa said.

"She better not have," Dean muttered to himself, his annoyance growing slightly.

He opened the sliding glass door and walked onto the deck. The football that he and Ben had been tossing around was on the deck, and Dean felt a sudden pang when he looked at it. Charlie had had tears in her eyes during their confrontation, even though she was angry. He had been so angry and defensive that he hadn't even taken into consideration that she could be feeling anything else besides anger. He then realized that he had been too harsh with her, and he wanted to talk to her and apologize.

"Charlie? Ben?" Dean called. He glanced around as he walked, trying to figure out if maybe they were hiding. He listened for a moment, using his hunter's instincts, to see if he could hear any sounds that might be out of place, grass that rustled because a child was trying to keep still while they hid, or giggling. The only sounds were the motor of the fan on the bouncy house and the dripping of the hose.

Dean checked in the bouncy house, around the side of the house, and even in the shed and behind it for good measure. Charlie and Ben were nowhere to be found.  
Dean walked around to the front of the house, peered into Lisa's car, and checked in the neighbor's yards on both sides. He was getting angry now, because dammit, his kid hadn't listened and had disobeyed him again, but underneath the anger, another emotion was blossoming- fear. He walked back around to the back and went into the back door. Sam was sitting at the island in the kitchen, eating, and Lisa was washing a platter at the sink. She turned when Dean came in.  
"Were they in the bouncy house?"

Dean shook his head. "They're not anywhere...Lisa, I can't find them!"

She turned around quickly. "What?" she cried. She put her wet hands up to her cheeks and looked at him. "Oh, God, what do we do, what do we do?" she gasped.  
Dean came over to her quickly and put his hand on her arm.

"Okay, first off, you take a deep breath and try to stay calm. Panic isn't going to help anything," he said calmly.

"Dean, where did they go? Where could they be? Do you think..." Lisa's brown eyes flicked back and forth between his green ones.

"Shh, let's not try and figure that out yet. Let's do a little more looking, maybe Ben went to a friend's house to show off some of his presents and Charlie went with him, huh? Does Ben have any friends in the neighborhood?"

"Yes, um, there's Seth four houses down but his family is away right now...um, Tyler lives on the corner, and he was at the party-"

"Okay," Dean nodded, "Let's walk over there first and see if they went there."

Sam had stood up. "You want me to stay here in case they come back? I can look around here too."

"Yeah, that'd be good," Dean said. He held his arm out to Lisa. "Let's go."

Dean and Lisa left the house and started to walk down the street towards the corner. Lisa happened to glance up the other way and noticed a figure walking towards them.

It was coming from the direction of the end of the block, where there were a couple of new houses under construction.

"Ben?" Lisa said hesitantly. "Ben? Oh my God, baby, where did you go?" Lisa turned and ran towards Ben, who continued to walk towards them. She grabbed him up in a hug and then leaned down. "Where did you go? Geez, you scared me half to death! Didn't I tell you to let me know when you were leaving the house, young man?" she took his arm and gave him a shake.

"Ben, where's Charlie?" Dean asked urgently. "Is she with you?"

Ben looked up at Dean. "She ran away," he said, and his voice was surprisingly calm. "She left and took off running...that way," he pointed in the opposite direction that he had been coming from.

Dean and Lisa turned and looked down the street.

Dean turned back to the boy. "Then why were you coming from this direction?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"There was a truck, one of those big black ones, it stopped and someone jumped out and grabbed her, and they drove this way," he turned and pointed the direction that he'd been walking. "I ran this way, after the car, but I couldn't catch them," Ben explained.

Lisa closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, my God." she opened her eyes and looked at Dean. "Let's go back to the house so we can call the police, all right?"

"All right," Dean agreed. The three of them went back inside.

"Oh, Ben, take your shoes off!" Lisa admonished. "Where did that mud come from?"

Ben had tracked a reddish mud into the house, and his shoe prints could be seen on the rug and the linoleum.

"Up the road..." Ben said. "Mommy, I'm hungry."

"All right, do you want a hot dog or a hamburger?" she asked.

"Both," Ben said.

Lisa chuckled. "You are a growing boy, aren't you?"

Dean had been talking quietly to Sam. He turned to her. "Sam and I are going to go out and walk around for a bit, and do some looking around. We'll be back."

Lisa nodded. "All right. Do you want me to call the police?"

"Not yet," Dean said. "Charlie was upset with me earlier, I want to see if maybe she ran into one of those empty houses up the street, to hide."

Dean and Sam walked out of the house together.

Ben looked at Lisa. "Mommy, make them go away," Ben said to her. "I want to play with you. Let's play, Mommy."

Lisa looked at Ben and a slight frown crossed her face. "All right, after I heat up your food. And what's with the 'mommy'? I thought you decided last year that you were too old to call me Mommy any more."

Ben walked over to her and hugged her waist. "I just love you, Mommy," he said.

Lisa smiled. "I love you too, Ben," she replied, hugging him back.

Sam walked over to Baby and opened the trunk. They got out flashlights and a couple of weapons. "Just in case," Dean muttered. Sam closed the trunk and they began walking in the direction that Dean had seen Ben coming from.

"He said that the car came from that direction," Dean pointed behind him, "But then why would he be coming from this way?" He glanced at Sam as they walked. "He said he was chasing the car, but I don't know...I'm wondering if he's trying to throw us off the scent because Charlie's hiding around here somewhere."

"Why would she be hiding?" Sam asked.

Dean told him what had happened after the party had ended, and how upset Charlie had been. "I was so shocked that she swore at me, Sam," Dean raked his hand through his hair. "I told her she had an appointment with the paddle and a bar of soap when we got to the hotel. I wouldn't be surprised if she's hiding to try and get out of that."

"Geez, Dean," Sam shook his head.

"Well, what else was I supposed to say? You know that Dad walloped us for things like cursing and attitude. And you certainly never cussed at John Winchester."

"Yeah, but Dean...you're not him," Sam reminded him.

Dean looked at Sam for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Yeah, you're right, I'm not. And I keep thinking about, "What would Dad do in this situation?", later, after I've already reacted, but...there were times he was pretty strict with us, and I should remember that I don't need to be that way with her-"

"Yeah, she's not a smartass, unruly little punk like you were," Sam said to him with a grin.

"Shut up, bitch," Dean gave Sam's shoulder a shove.

"Make me, jerk," Sam replied, shoving him back.

"Yeah, I was too hard on her, and I feel like shit because of it. After I hug her and apologize, I'm still going to spank her butt though, because she was really disrespectful and rude. And she ran off after I told her to stay in the yard and house!"

"Just- don't be too harsh with her, man," Sam told him. "you've got to remember, her life since she came to us has been nothing but upheaval, she just lost her mother, she was at the scene of her mother's death, she's living with people who were total strangers at first, then all that stuff with her aunt, and now she finds out that she's not your only kid? She was already insecure, that's got to be sending her insecurity through the roof."

"Geez, I didn't even think of it like that," Dean rubbed his hand over his face. "Now that you put it that way, I understand why she was so upset. When she was being nasty with me, I could see she had tears in her eyes, but I was so shocked and pissed off at her behavior that I ignored it. And she had already gotten upset earlier, about the party."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"When we were watching Ben open his presents, I could tell something was...off, with her, and she just got more and more upset. I asked her, and she told me that for the past 2 years they hadn't done anything to celebrate her birthday, because of her mom being sick. Not even a cake."

"Aww," Sam said sympathetically. "That poor kid. That makes me want to go out and buy her a cake right now," he shook his head, "she's been through so much, we don't even know the full extent of it yet. A 7 and 8-year-old taking care of their mom who's going through cancer treatments, and watching her mom lose her hair and throw up her guts, and she was doing their laundry and cooking food for herself? I mean, this kid's been through a lot, Dean, and she really is a resilient little girl," he shook his head again. "She's amazingly strong."

"Yeah," Dean said thoughtfully, "she is."

They had reached the end of the street where there were a couple of houses in different stages of construction. The first one had a 'Sold' sign out front and locks on all the doors, and looked to be almost completed. There were no broken windows or anything to indicate that anyone could have broken in recently. The second house was not quite built up, and they did a walk- through. That house also had a 'Sold" sign out front. The house on the corner was barely built, it had the outside walls built, but the inside drywall had not been installed yet and the walls were full of the fluffy pink insulation.

"Charlie?" Dean called, looking around. Sam had gone into one of the other rooms.

"Dean," he called, "check this out, I found something."

Dean ran into the room quickly. Sam had squatted down and was looking at something on the floor.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"It's a Wolverine action figure," Sam said, looking up at Dean. "Did you happen to notice if Ben likes the X-Men?" He picked it up and stood, turning it over in his hands. "It looks brand-new," he commented.

Dean thought for a moment, "Yeah, I think I remember seeing some X-men stuff at the party. I know he did get a Batman toy."

"I think we have a little boy to talk to," Sam said.

"Yeah, someone's not telling the truth. Let's go," Dean said decisively.

They walked quickly back to Lisa's house and Dean knocked on the door and then opened it. Lisa and Ben were curled up on the couch together, watching t.v. Lisa stood up and walked over to them. "Did you find anything?" she asked, her brown eyes full of worry.

"Yeah, we did, and that's what we need to talk to Ben about," Dean held up the action figure.

"That's- that's the one he just got from his grandmother!" Lisa said, turning to the boy, "Ben, what do you know about this?" she asked accusingly.

Ben glanced over at them, seemingly unconcerned. "What, Mommy?"

"You told us that Charlie ran away, but we found this action figure in one of the empty houses," Dean told him. "Your mom's saying you just got this, so it has to be yours. And if you and Charlie were together, then it's likely that you were in that house together."

Ben had sat up and he looked back and forth between Dean and his mother.

"I—I-but I-" he didn't seem to know what to say.

"Benjamin Isaac Braeden!" Lisa's voice was loud and stern, "you'd better tell me the truth right now, young man! This little girl is missing!"

Ben blinked. "I—I-"

"Look, kid, you won't get in trouble, just be honest with us," Sam said gently.

Lisa made a "hmph" sound. "Yeah, he won't be in trouble with you, maybe," she paused and gave Ben a 'Mom look', "but he's been told more than once to stay out of those houses that are under construction. All of the kids in the neighborhood seem to be unable to stay away from them," She shook her head. "What is it with boys and construction?"

"Did you and Charlie go into that house?" Dean questioned. He looked at Ben, watching him closely.

"Okay!" Ben said tearfully. "Yeah, we did, I showed her the house, she said she wanted to live there by herself, but then she ran out the door, and that's when the car came and took her!" Tears began to pour down his face.

"All right, Ben," Dean walked over to him. "Just relax, can you tell me anything about the car or the people in it?"

"I told you, it was a big black car, a- a SUV!" Ben said quickly, "I didn't see anyone. Just the car."

"Did you see the license plate? Notice a bumper sticker or anything?" Sam looked at Ben.

"No! No, no, no!" Ben wailed, and then he got up and ran to Lisa, throwing his arms around her waist and sobbing. "Make them go away now, Mommy, I want to be with you!" he said.

Lisa put her arms around him. "I'm sorry, guys, I think this is it. Ben's clearly overwhelmed from all this."

"Can't we just ask one mo-"

Lisa interrupted Dean. "No, he's had a big day today, and I don't think you're going to be able to get anything else out of him."

Dean grimaced. "All right...Let me leave my cell number and you can call me if you need to. I'll be back tomorrow," he said. He took a small pad of paper out and wrote his number on a slip, tore it off, and put it in her hand. He looked at her. "What's your number?"

She told him her cell phone number as they walked towards the front door, Ben still attached to Lisa's waist by his arms encircling her. Dean jotted her number on the pad and stuck it back into his pocket. His face was buried in her side but he didn't seem to be crying.

"I'll try and talk to him while I'm putting him to bed," she told Dean quietly.

"Thanks...we'll talk later," he promised, and he and Sam left.

Sam's phone rang as they got in the car. "It's Dad," he said.

Dean listened to the car's engine, which still sounded funny, as he drove, and Sam's side of the conversation.

Sam disconnected the call and put his phone in his pocket. "Well apparently Dad's just in the next town over," Sam said. "He's investigating a case where the men in the family have all died under mysterious circumstances, three families. And all of the houses were sold by the same realty company as the one in this neighborhood."

"What, uhh...this one?" Dean fished the realtor's card out of his pocket and handed it to Sam.

"Cicero Realty," Sam read off of the card, "Yeah, that's what he said. Did you happen to overhear anyone at the party talking about anything like that around here?"

"Well...yeah, now that you mention it," Dean said. "I overheard Lisa talking to a woman, from what I gathered the woman's husband just died in some freak accident and she was upset, but she was also upset because she said her little girl wasn't acting right. Lisa was reminding her that grief makes people act differently sometimes."

"Hmm," Sam said. "Once we get back to the room, I'm going to see if there are any strange deaths in the area."

Dean spent the next hour pacing and shoulder-surfing as Sam worked on his laptop. They had driven up and down the road that Lisa's house was on, looking to see if there were any traffic cameras. There were a couple further out, so Sam had called their computer-genius friend Ash to get him to help hack into the traffic camera's computer system so they could view the footage and look for a black SUV. Ash talked Sam through the process and also looked with his computers, and they talked on the phone for the better part of an hour, but no black SUV like Ben had described had driven through any of the areas. 

“Well, it looks like Ben was lying about that too,” Dean said grimly. “What else is the kid hiding?”

“I don't know, Dean,” Sam said. “We're going to have to tread lightly with him, though,and not go in with guns blazing, you know?”

“I know,” Dean said with a sigh, “I'm just so—upset about this--” he walked over to the fridge and pulled out 2 beers. Sam had thoughtfully picked up a 6-pack earlier. He took one over to Sam and set it next to his elbow.

“Me too,” Sam opened a new browser window and started to investigate any suspicious deaths in the area. He was quiet for a while, then he said to Dean, "There have been a couple of suspicious deaths here, but the local papers are downplaying them, there's barely any detail about them."

"What time is it?" Dean checked his watch. "Think we could go interview the families?"

Sam glanced at the computer screen, "No, Dean, it's too late, it's after 1:00 A.M.," Sam told him.

"Dammit!" Dean raked his hands through his hair in frustration. "Sam, I'm gonna go crazy if I can't do something about this. My little girl's out there—somewhere-" he choked for a moment on the emotion that was rising up in him, and Sam stood up quickly.

He grabbed Dean in a hug. "I know, man, I'm worried sick about it too. But right now we can't do anything, we should get some rest so that we can be fresh tomorrow."  
They patted each others backs as they let go.

"First I'm going to call Dad," Dean said.

John picked up on the second ring. "Dean, I'm so sorry," he said sympathetically, "how are you holding up?"

Dean rubbed his hand over his face. "I think I'm still in shock," he said.

"I understand. We're going to find her, Dean."

"I know, Dad," Dean agreed.

"Sam told you what I'm investigating? Mysterious deaths?"

"Yeah, what are you thinking? Vengeful ghost?"

"No, none of the families are connected. I was thinking possibly shtriga, but then, the kids are not falling sick. A couple of the moms have, but that could be from the stress of having to deal with their's husband's death and all the issues that go with that."

"Well, keep searching. Sam found some suspicious deaths in this town too, I wonder if they're related to yours."

"A monster that travels between two towns? They'd have to be awfully busy," John said.

"Yeah...I guess we should sleep on it," Dean said.

"All right, I'll talk to you tomorrow," John hung up.

The next morning, Dean was just finishing up getting dressed when his phone rang. The screen showed that the caller was Lisa Braeden.

"Hey, Lis," Dean said, "How are you?"

"Dean, something's wrong," she said, and her voice was quiet, as if she was trying not be to overheard. "Ben is not...himself."

"Well, maybe he's just upset because of what happened, you know-" Dean tried to make her feel better.

"No, Dean," there was a rustling sound. "It's not...I don't know how to describe it," she sighed, "Dean, I think that whoever—whatever came back from that house yesterday- that is not my son."


	33. Chapter 33

Lisa let Sam and Dean into her house. Ben was in the kitchen, eating a plate of waffles. 

“So, were you able to get anything out of him?” Dean asked her in a low voice.

Lisa shook her head. “He wouldn't answer me when I asked questions, or he'd start with the 'I love you, Mommy' and keep hugging me.” 

“I found some articles that suggested that there were some suspicious deaths in the area lately,” Sam said to her. “Have you heard anything about that?

“Just that there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood recently,” Lisa told him with a shrug. 

“I want to try an experiment,” Dean said, “You said Ben likes cars, right?”

“Yeah, they're one of his favorite things, and he's very knowledgeable about them. He mentioned how cool your car was when he was eating dinner last night, before he...left.” Lisa told him.

“Hey Ben...” Dean walked over to the kitchen island where Ben sat, finishing his food. “You want to go outside and have a look at my car? I'll even take you for a spin around the neighborhood,” his tone was casual. 

“Naah, I want to watch cartoons when I'm done,” Ben said, and his voice was toneless. 

Lisa looked at Dean and shook her head slightly. They walked back into the living room. “My Ben would be so excited if you offered him that,” Lisa whispered. “That is not my son!” 

“Okay,” Dean said. “We're going to find Charlie and get to the bottom of this. You be careful with...him. We're going to go back to those empty houses and look around, see if we can find anything else. Call me if you need anything.” 

The men walked back up the street until they got to the end. Dean went inside the house they had found the Wolverine figure in, and Sam walked around the perimeter. 

“Dean...DEAN!” Sam called loudly. There was a note of panic in his voice. He was behind the house, in what was to become the back yard. 

Dean hurried through the house and went out the back and over to Sam.“What is it, Sam?”

Sam pointed at the ground. A Hello Kitty purse lay there, the shoulder strap snapped in two, with a dirty footprint on it. Dean bent down and picked it up, suddenly nervous. 

“Oh God, Sam, do you think it could be hers...” his voice shook. He unzipped it and opened it, searching around inside. He pulled out a handful of Charlie's little Hello Kitty figurines and a couple pieces of paper. He put the toys back and unfolded the papers. 

“This is her ticket to the mini golf we went to...and look, here's the map for that rescue zoo...oh, geez, Sam, it is hers...” tears came to Dean's eyes and he fought the urge to cry that rose up in him. He looked at Sam, who had a shocked look on his face.

“At least we know she was here, now we've got to figure out where she went. And if someone really did take her,” Sam said. 

Dean's phone rang. “It's Dad,” he commented after looking at the display. “Yeah, Dad,” he said. He looked at Sam. “You did? That's great, what was it? Oh--You what? Oh no...are you okay? You are? Well...” Dean glanced at Sam. “We're still looking for Charlie, and we found her purse outside the back of that house she and Ben were in, so we want to go and—we do? Uh—oh, I see. Right. Well...okay, let me write that down, hold on--”

Sam gave Dean a small pad of paper and a pen. Dean wrote an address down. “Okay, we'll be there as soon as we can. Yeah. Okay, bye.” Dean disconnected and sighed. “Well, Dad caught the creature. He ganked it, but in the process, he broke his arm. And, he's still at the hospital. They kept him overnight because his blood pressure was through the roof when they picked him up. He wants us to come pick him up, they won't release him unless he has help-- he can't drive.”

“Okay,” Sam said. “Let's go, then. What was the creature?”

“He said a changeling...he sounded kinda out of it, though, so we can't be too sure...he must be on pain meds,” Dean said. “Dammit!” he said as they walked. “We've got to find Charlie, I'm so worried--”

“We will, Dean,” Sam reassured him. 

“I know, it's just that-- this is going to take time away from finding her and any more time she spends with that monster, if that's where she is--”  
“Don't think about that, Dean. Just focus on the task at hand,” Sam reminded him of a technique their Dad had taught them when he had been training them. It was no use getting all upset about 'what ifs' because it would distract you and put you off your game.

He went into Lisa's house and let her know of the latest development. Then he and Sam drove to their hotel and packed up. They were on the road in less than an hour. 

The drive to the next town over was only about an hour, but for some reason the ambulance had taken John to a hospital that was two hours away. Dean and Sam found their way through the maze of hallways to the ward where John was staying. He was sitting up in the bed, wearing a hospital gown, with a sling on his arm. And he was not in a good mood- pain was one of the few things that put John Winchester in a bad mood, and at this point he was as grumpy as a bear that had been woken up from the middle of hibernation. 

“Hey, Dad,” Dean said. He cleared his throat nervously, “So listen, I've got something to tell you...”

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I was cold...so cold...it felt like I would never be warm again. The cage I was in was metal, on the cement floor of an underground place, so there was no light or warmth from anywhere. I had scratchy ropes tied tight around my legs and arms, because I had tried to run away the first time she took me out of the cage. I had fought her, too, and she had hit me and knocked me down. My shoulders hurt from having my hands tied behind me. It was hard to find a comfortable position to lay in. The second time she had taken me out I had tried to bite her and then I had screamed and screamed. She had hit me again, and then tied a cloth around my head in my mouth. It was damp and gross tasting. 

Every once in a while I would hear the voice of another kid crying out, they must have been in a different part of the place we were in, but I couldn't see. I was back in a corner where there were lots of piles of planks of wood and big bags of cement and stacks of bricks. I thought I heard Ben calling to me and I tried to answer back, but the cloth in my mouth muffled my voice. My throat was raw from all the screaming I had done. 

I wondered where my Daddy and Uncle Sam were... Were they looking for me? Or were they looking for Ben?... I had been so mean to my Daddy at the party and I had said a cuss...I was such a bad kid... No wonder he didn't want me... All I had done since I came to him was misbehave and get into trouble. He and Uncle Sam must be so tired of dealing with me...

I hoped they would try to come and find me anyway, because I didn't want to be here, and the red-haired lady scared me... Each time she bit the back of my neck I felt a little bit worse... I was so tired all the time, and stiff, and everything hurt... Plus being cold... I had had to pee for a long time now... I shifted in the cage, trying to get comfortable... I couldn't hold it much longer... I was so cold... I sighed, and let go... I felt the pee making my pants wet, and then relaxed a little as it felt warm... I felt awful, ashamed that I had wet my pants like a baby, but the little bit of warmth I was feeling on my legs helped me feel a little bit better for a while...

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

Dean's ears were ringing. John's voice had gotten louder and more strident as he talked-- no, as he lectured his eldest about 'protection' and 'staying safe' and 'keeping it in your pants'. Dean fought the urge to roll his eyes, but with the mood that John was in, he wasn't sure that his Dad wouldn't end up giving him a cuff to the back of the head. 

“--I should have taken my belt to you every single time I caught you horn-dogging around, maybe then it would've gotten the message across-- you're lucky I'm injured, boy, or I'd be taking my belt off right now!” John glowered up at Dean from the hospital bed.

“Daaad...” Dean said weakly, inwardly cringing at the automatic response that those words still brought forth. His stomach twisted a little nervously. “You can't do that, I'm an adult-”

“The hell I can't! If you're still gonna act like a stupid, horny teenager, then I will most certainly treat you like one!” John shifted in the bed. “And what are you going to do if this kid's mother starts wanting child support? Huh? Or she makes you start taking the kid on weekends- how are you going hunt then, with two kids to take care of? What if-- what if she takes you to court?”

“Dad, calm down,” Sam said mildly. “You're not supposed to get all riled up.”

John shifted his glower to Sam. “How about you, Sam, you got any little Winchesters running around out there that I need to know about?” 

Sam blushed. “Uh, no, no sir,” he said deferentially. When John was in full bluster like he had been since the conversation started, it was best to be respectful. 

“You sure about that?” John fired back. In response to Sam's nod, he muttered, “Good, at least one of my sons is responsible. Good to know at least one of them listened to me.”

The blood pressure cuff that was strapped to John's arm began to automatically inflate, and all three of them fell silent as they watched the numbers on the machine change. Once they got above a certain range, the machine began to beep loudly.

“Dammit,” John muttered, “It does that when it gets high.” 

“Well, you need to relax,” Dean said. 

“How can I relax, when I just found out--” John was interrupted by a nurse bustling in. 

“Hello, Colonel Winchester, let's take a look at things,” She walked up to the machine, pressing a couple of buttons, and the beeping stopped. She glanced at John. “Are we staying calm and relaxed?” 

“Apparently not,” Dean said under his breath. 

“Well, seeing as how I just found out that I'm a grandfather for the second time, and my son isn't married to either of the mothers, I don't see how I can be calm or relaxed,” John growled.

The nurse turned to him. “Honey, grandchildren are one of the world's greatest blessings. And you ought to know at your age that marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. As long as they all love each other and support each other, I don't see a problem with it,” She fixed him with a stern glare. “Now you need to stay calm, we can't be lettin' you go home if your BP keeps throwin' these big numbers at us. Have you been practicin' those relaxation exercises? The breathing ones are particularly helpful. I'll be back to check on you in a couple of hours unless I get another alert from the machine.” She turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

“Relaxation exercises?” Sam asked. He looked at Dean, who was smirking. Imagining their Dad doing yoga or practicing his breathing was a hilarious image.

“Yeah, they told me I'm too tense, gotta learn to relax,” John grumbled. “I'll relax when I get outta here.”

They settled in to wait to hear from the doctor. John told them that everyone who worked at the hospital was young, that his doctor looked like he had just graduated from high school.

“What?” John asked, seeing a look pass from Sam to Dean.

“It's just...you're starting to sound more and more like a grumpy old man, Dad,” Dean said. 

“It's the pain meds,” John said blithely. “They always put me in a mood.”

“I'm going to go look for some coffee, want anything?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, grab me one too,” Dean replied.

“I'd like one as well, but they've told me I need to be on some 'heart healthy diet' or some such nonsense,” John complained, “The coffee I got with breakfast this morning was decaf. Decaf! What's the point of that?”

“You've got to listen to the doctors, Dad,” Sam said. “They know what they're talking about.” 

When Sam came back with 2 cups of coffee, John told them what he had discovered. The creature was a changeling, and it kept children in cages in a partially finished basement area of a house that was still under construction. He told them that the creature disguised iself as a woman, a realtor, and that was how she collected her victims. 

He explained how to get rid if it- a flamethrower- and that all the changeling children would disappear when the adult was killed. He had been able to get the children out of the cages before the adult had come back, and she had superhuman strength. She had fought with him, and he had broken his arm in the process, and he still managed to light the flamethrower and disintegrate her.

He had tried to interview the families that had had tragedies but only two had been willing to talk to him. He told them that he had noticed a round wound on the back of one of the mother's necks, and that he was pretty certain that the changeling child was feeding on the mother. She had seemed pale and sickly and complained of feeling tired all the time. 

Dean told John about Ben and how they had discovered Charlie's purse outside the empty house. 

“I wonder if we're dealing with a changeling too, and if she took both Charlie and Ben,” Dean said. 

“It would make sense,” Sam said. 

“But why didn't she make a changeling replacement for Charlie then? That doesn't make sense. That's what makes me think-- and worry- that someone actually did come along and take her like Ben said.” Dean mused. 

“We've got to try and find out who the changeling is and where she stashed the kids.” Sam said.

“I think the first place we should look is that realtor who gave me her card. The fact that the one that Dad ganked worked at the same company can't be a coincidence.” 

 

Unfortunately, the Winchesters had to wait at the hospital almost the whole day. Dean paced the room impatiently, and then when John snapped at him irritably, he paced the hallway. He and Sam both went to the nurse's station more than once to ask when John would be discharged and where the doctor was, but as it is so often in hospitals, they had to wait. Dean was wound tighter than a bow string by the time John was discharged at around dinner time. He went with Dean in the Impala and Sam drove John's truck. They had to stop at the motel and pack up John's things, and then stop at a pharmacy for John's medications and to buy a blood pressure cuff- the doctors had told him to start checking his every day- and a plastic sleeve to cover his cast in the shower. 

By the time they got back on the road it was the middle of the evening, and by the time they got back to the town that Lisa lived in, it was late at night. They had to drive around a bit, but eventually Sam found them a motel with adjoining rooms. John couldn't use his arm at all and needed help with some things, which was also making him grumpy, as he was used to being independent. 

Sam went out and found a Chinese food restaurant that was open late, and brought food back to them. They ate and then fell into their respective beds for the night. Being discharged from the hospital and driving all night was exhausting. Dean even managed to sleep for a couple of hours even though he was tense and worried.

 

 

In the morning they got a late start. Sam had to practice taking John's blood pressure and get used to inflating the cuff and listening with the stethescope. They had to open John's medicine bottles for him, and cut his food up at breakfast. Sam fussed at John about getting 'heart healthy options' like the doctor had told him to when he was discharged. By the time they dropped John off at the motel, Sam and John were both grumpy and ready to kill each other. Dean was frustrated too, almost vibrating with the need to get out there and do something, anything, but he tightened his lips and didn't say anything. 

When they got to Lisa's she greeted them with the news that there had been another suspicious death. She had pulled up information on all the houses in the area that had recently been sold, and discovered that they had all been sold by Mrs. Wheeler of Cicero Realty. Three of the houses had had a freak accident resulting in the death of the man of the house. 

Sam and Dean drove back to the motel and changed into their suits and spent the afternoon interviewing the families and looking around. They got into the morgue to view the latest body and talk to the coroner. When they went by the realty office, Mrs. Wheeler wasn't there, but they found out that the main construction site was near Lisa's house. 

Sam and Dean drove back to Lisa's house. Her face was pale and drawn when she let them in.  
“What's the matter?” Dean asked her. 

 

“Oh, I'm just...tired,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “Plus Ben, he won't...he doesn't like to be left alone, and that's wearing me down a little. Normally he's very independent.” 

“Lisa, can I look at something?” Dean asked hesitantly. “Your-- the back of your neck.”

“Huh?” she frowned. “Well...okay,” she leaned forward and moved her hair out of the way. Sure enough, there was a round indentation at the base of her neck- it was red and swollen and you could see little indentations of teethmarks. 

She straightened up and looked at them. “What...what is it?” she asked, seeing their expressions. 

Dean quietly explained to her what was going on with the changeling. He told her they suspected the realtor and they were going to look for her main hideout. Dean started to ask her where the construction site was, but she pulled back.

“Okay, Dean, I'll admit, I had my doubts the other day when you talked to me, and rest assured, I am going to have Ben tested...but this? This is a little too 'out there' for me, okay? I think...I think I'm done with you for now. Okay? You and your brother...you just need to leave me alone for a while. I need some time to...to think about all this. I'll call you when I get test results back.” Lisa's brown eyes flashed angrily at him. 

“Lisa--” Dean started.

“No, Dean, I told you, I'm done for now. Please leave, you can show yourselves out,” she turned away from them. Sam and Dean glanced at each other, and then walked to the front door.

As Dean was opening the front door, Sam nudged him. “Weren't these the shoes that Ben was wearing when he came from the empty house?” Sam bent down and picked one up. The treads still had red dirt in them. They both looked closely at it. 

“We need to find out where that red dirt came from,” Dean said. 

“Let's find the construction site,” Sam dropped the shoe on the floor and they left the house.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The medical details and the explanations for things are a mix of information from the show and fiction with a little bit of medical fact sprinkled throughout- I made the majority of it up after doing some reading on the medical aspects of what I wanted to portray.   
> *****************

Two blocks over from Lisa's house was the main construction site. There were two trailers on the site as well as stacks of building materials and huge mounds of dirt. Around the back of the trailers, there was a huge mound of red dirt. There were a couple of freshly-built houses on the site too, and one of them was an open model for people to walk through.

Sam and Dean entered that one, and started to make their way through the rooms. They were both shocked when they got to the basement and discovered a row of large metal cages off to the side, full of children. Dean grabbed a piece of metal pipe and began to pound at the lock on the first cage door. Sam walked down the row, looking at the kids. One of the last ones was Ben.

Ben scooted forward and called out, "Dean! Dean!"

After Dean opened the first cage, he ran to Ben's and opened it. He leaned down and helped the boy out of the cage. Ben threw his arms around Dean's waist.  
"It's my fault," he sobbed.

"What is, Ben?" Dean asked, hugging the boy.

"I brought Charlie to the empty house, she told me she wanted to run away. I was trying to help her! But then Mrs. Wheeler came in-" he looked up at Dean. "She's a monster," he whispered. "She changed, and she pinched Charlie's neck so that she fell down, and then she did it to me."

"I don't see Charlie here," Sam said.

"Ben, is Charlie down here with you?" Dean asked urgently.

Ben let go of Dean and stepped away. "I...I think so...I don't know where she took her, though." He pointed over to the side. "I see her walk over through there after she checks on us."

 

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

 

I could hear movement, the banging of metal on metal, the cage doors must be opening, but why so often and so many? I could hear murmured talking, and every once in a while an exclamation or cry.

"Come on, come on, quickly," I heard, and "It's all right, you're safe now," hurried footsteps on the cement floor, scraping and banging.

Then I heard a girl scream, and then crashes and sounds of people fighting.

It seemed to go on forever, but then there was a loud roaring sound and a scream.

"All right, start getting them out of here," I heard someone say, and then a voice I never thought I'd hear again, my Daddy, called, "Charlie? Charlie! Where are you!"

I tried to call out to him but the cloth was still in my mouth and I was so weak I could barely move.

I heard footsteps, and then Ben's voice- "There's another cage!"

"Oh my- Charlie-" Daddy's voice said. I heard metal clanking. "Oh God! Sam! SAMMY! Get over here, man!" he called, and his voice was panicked sounding.

"Ben, how long has she been here?" Daddy asked.

"The lady separated her after the first day. She was- feeding on Charlie a lot, I think." I heard Ben's voice, rough and hesitant.

"Oh God." Daddy said again.

"Where are you, Dean?" I heard Uncle Sam's voice.

There was a metallic screech as the door swung open.

"Charlie? Charlie?" Daddy said. His voice came closer, and I tried to open my eyes. I was so tired, and cold, and weak. I tried to lift my head. I was being pulled forward, and I made a sound in the back of my throat.

"Dean, what- is she-" I heard Uncle Sam say.

Hands moved under my body, arms lifted me, I was laid on the cold ground.

"She's tied up," Daddy said. "Sam, hold this so I can get my knife-"

Hands on my legs, and movement, and then it was like the tightness keeping my legs together broke. Then I was turned over slightly and felt movement at my wrists. I felt the same sense of something snapping and then hands moving my arms around to the front. I moaned, because it hurt.

"Sam-look at this," Daddy said in a strangled voice. He had removed the gag from the back of my head. I tried to lick my lips but my mouth was too dry. Something touched the back of my neck, and I cried out, because it hurt a lot.

"I'm sorry, baby, I'm sorry," Daddy said. I felt him turning me and felt myself being lifted. "I gotcha, I gotcha now, I'm gonna take care of you, Charlie," Daddy said breathlessly. I felt someone moving my hair off of my face and a hand cupped my cheek.

"Charlie? Charlie?" Daddy asked.

I opened my eyes a little bit and looked up- Daddy was looking down at me. He had tears on his cheeks.

He saw my eyes were open and looked over. "Oh God, Sam, she's alive!" he said, and I heard a footstep and then saw Uncle Sam's head leaning into my vision.  
"Oh, Charlie," Uncle Sam said with relief. "Come on, we've gotta get them out of here," he said.

"Daddy," I whispered, "Daddy, I ran away..."

Daddy looked down at me again, and I saw tears come out of his eyes and track down the sides of his face. "Charlie, I don't care about that, all I care about right now is that you're safe and alive," he told me.

"M' sorry I was b-bad," I whispered hoarsely.

"Shh, baby, don't talk. It's okay, everything is going to be okay," he told me gently.

"All right, let's go," Uncle Sam said.

I closed my eyes and listened, feeling the softness of Daddy's flannel shirt on my cheek. I could hear Uncle Sam saying, "Okay, follow me, come around here...we're going to get you home...we're just up the road from your neighborhood."

I heard the creaking of the Impala's car doors, and opened my eyes for a moment. Uncle Sam was helping the kids get into the back seat. Daddy sat in the passenger seat and held me tightly to his chest.

The last thing I remembered hearing was the familiar rumble of Baby's engine.

 

Then I had fragmented memories for a while, feeling myself being laid down on something soft, moving, feeling wet cloth touch my skin, seeing bright lights in the ceiling, hearing machines beeping, feeling a sharp pinch in my arm.

I heard an unfamiliar voice speaking, "Extremely dehydrated...toxins in the bloodstream...can't be certain of the effects...draw more blood tomorrow..."

 

 

I was laying in a bed. I could hear a low beeping sound. It smelled a little bit like a doctor's office. I opened my eyes. Daddy was sitting by the side of my bed, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together, and his head was resting on his fists. His eyes were closed. I could see he had stubble on his face.

"Daddy," I said, and my voice was a raspy whisper.

Daddy's head came up and his eyes got wide as he looked at me.

"Oh God, Charlie," he said with relief, and his voice broke when he said my name. It looked like tears came to his eyes. He just sat there looking at me for a moment.

I tried to sit up, to hug him, but nothing happened. My body wouldn't move. I turned my head back and forth- I could move my head and the movement made the back of my neck hurt- but that was all. I turned my head to look at Daddy.

"I can't move!" I said, and my voice was full of panic. "Daddy I can't move! What's wrong with me!"

He stood up and leaned over me. "What do you mean, you can't move?"

"I—I'm trying to sit up and I can't!"

He picked up my hand and held it in his. "Squeeze my hand," he told me.

I tried. I closed my eyes are tried to squeeze as hard as I could, grunting a little with the effort. Then I opened my eyes and looked up at him again.  
"Did you feel it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, sweetheart," he said.

I burst into tears. "What's wrong with me? Daddy, what happened?"

"Shh, Charlie, it'll be okay. Let me go out and see if the doctor's out there, okay?"

He turned away from me and I turned my head to follow him. "Don't leave me!" I called.

I saw him open a door and step outside, and heard his voice calling. Then he came back into the room and came back to the bedside. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text.

"Daddy," I whimpered. He sat down in the chair again and reached for my hand.

"Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "we'll figure this out." He reached over and brushed my hair off of my face. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked.

I thought back. I remembered being in the dark, and cold, and feeling pain in my neck, the feeling of someone bending over me- "Oh," I said, feeling embarrassed. "I—I peed on myself once."

"That's okay," Daddy said. "It happens."

"I—I was cold, and the pee- it made me feel warm for a little while, but then it got cold and then it felt worse 'cause I was cold and wet."

"I bet it did," he said. His phone buzzed and he looked at it. "What else do you remember?" he asked.

"I was in the dark in a little place...and someone was bending over me and I felt pain in my neck-" I stopped. "It's real fuzzy."

"It's all right," he said. "It will come back to you, I'm sure."

I looked up at him. "Daddy, are you mad at me 'cause I ran away? I'm- I'm sorry I was so mean at the party."

Daddy shook his head. "Don't worry about that, Charlie. I'm not mad at you, and you're not in trouble or anything. You're- you're sick, and the only thing that matters right now is getting you better." He leaned over and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry I was mean too, I didn't even stop to think that you could be feeling insecure about Ben. I'm not going to stop-"

When Daddy said the name Ben, I saw him in my head, and then it was like a box opened in my mind and I remembered everything. I remembered Ben taking me to the empty house, and then Mrs. Wheeler coming in, and doing something to my neck.

I burst into tears. "I remember, Daddy!" I sobbed. "I do remember!

The door opened and someone came in. I could hear heels clicking on the floor. I turned my head to look. A woman with short gray hair stood by the bed with a clipboard. She nodded at Daddy, then she looked down at me.

"Charlie, it's so good to finally meet you," she said, and her voice was low and warm. "I'm Dr. Miriam, and I'm going to help you, all right?" she looked at Daddy. "What's going on? She can't move?"

"She woke up and said she tried to sit up but she couldn't- I took her hand and told her to squeeze it, and she said she was, but I didn't feel anything." Daddy said, looking up at her.

"All right, Charlie, I'm going to examine you," she said. She lifted my hand up.

"Keep your hand in the air," she said. She let go and my arm flopped onto the bed. She took my hand and put her hand on mine so that our palms were touching. "Push my hand, as hard as you can," she said. Again, nothing happened- my hand fell to the bed. She did a few more things like that, checked to see if I could move my feet or my legs.

"Well, we weren't sure what the results were going to be from the toxins, but now we know," she said to Daddy. "Paralysis. I want to get some more tools and do some more thorough testing, and probably do an MRI or CAT scan."

"Is it- is it temporary?" Daddy asked hesitantly.

"We won't know that until I do more tests. I'll be back in a while, I need to look up some information." she said. She turned to me. "Charlie, we'll get this figured out, all right? We're going to figure out how to help you. I'll be back later to run some more tests." She turned and left the room.

"Daddy..." I whimpered. "What's wrong with me?"

"Shh, baby, we'll figure it out," he said. He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled me forward, putting his arms around me and hugging me. It felt strange since I couldn't hug him back. My face got pressed into his shirt. "Daddy-" I said, my mouth muffled.

He moved me back a little bit, holding me up. "Is that better?" he asked. He laid me back down in the bed and bent to kiss my forehead.

I heard the squeak of the door hinges and then Uncle Sam's voice, "She's awake?"

Daddy turned and walked quickly over to him. I heard him talking in a low voice for a moment, and it sounded like Uncle Sam asked a question. After another moment, I heard footsteps and turned my head towards them.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, wearing a sling on his arm, walked in behind Daddy. They walked around and stood on the other side of the bed. 

Uncle Sam leaned down and I felt him kiss the top of my head. "How are you, Charlie?" he asked.

"I—I can't move," I told him, and he nodded. "I know, your Dad told me. It's okay," he said soothingly. "The doctors are going to take care of you."

I looked up at Grandpa John. "No ice cream," I said.

He frowned. "What, darlin'?" he asked.

"You said... you'd take me for ice cream if I behaved, and I didn't... I ran away...and now look..." I felt ashamed.

"I'll get you whatever you want, little one," Grandpa John said gently, and he reached down and cupped my cheek with his hand. He smiled at me, but his eyes were sad.

"Heard anything from Bobby?" Daddy asked.

Grandpa John shook his head. "Not yet."

"What happened to your arm?" I asked him.

"Oh, I, uh, had an accident. Fell down and broke it," he told me. "Your Dad and Uncle Sam are taking care of me."

Uncle Sam scoffed and shook his head. "When you let us," he muttered.

"Hey, I'm not used to it, you ought to know that by now." Grandpa John retorted.

"Stubborn old man," Sam shook his head.

"Where do you all think you got the Winchester stubbornness from?" Grandpa John looked at him.

I heard the hinges on the door squeak again and footsteps. A nurse came in rolling a machine and put it next to my bed.

"This is going to measure your blood pressure every so often, and your oxygen saturation," she told me. She wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my upper arm and then placed a little black clip with a digital display on it, on my index finger.

"What's ox'gen sat-satra-?" I asked her.

"How much oxygen is in your blood," she explained, "We're going to monitor it for today, all right? The machine will alert us to any changes." She smiled at me, and then left the room.

Grandpa John said to me, "I had a blood pressure cuff on my arm when I was in the hospital too."

"You did? Why?" I asked.

"Well...it's just something that hospitals like to check," he said.

"Daddy, what was that creature?" I asked in a quiet voice. I saw Daddy glance at Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, and they all looked uncomfortable.  
"It was called a changeling," Daddy told me. "She picked a human to look like and disguised herself to look like them."

"Why? So she could take kids?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam again. "Yes," he nodded.

"She would...bite the back of my neck, and then it would make my back feel like it was burning and it would hurt," I said. "And then everything else started to hurt, my muscles and everything, and I felt tired. What was she doing?"

Uncle Sam cleared his throat. "Uh, we're still...not sure, Charlie. What else do you remember about being with her?"

"I would, uh, hear other kids crying sometimes. The first time she took me out of the cage, I tried to run away and I kicked her and fought her. She...she hit me, and knocked me down on the ground." I said. I heard Daddy take a deep breath. "Then the next time she took me out, I tried to bite her. She hit me again and then got some ropes and tied me up and put cloth in my mouth and tied it on my head so I wouldn't bite. And I kept screaming too, as loud as I could. She got madder at me because I wouldn't stop."

Uncle Sam shook his head as he smiled at me. "I'm glad you're such a fighter, Charlie," he said.

The door opened again and another nurse entered the room. She was carrying a small plastic basin.

"I'm here to clean the wound on your neck, sweetie," she told me. She went through a doorway that was in the room and I realized there must be a bathroom in the room because I heard water running from a sink.

The nurse came out with the basin and looked at everyone. "Well, Dad, can you help me out?" she asked. "Lift her up for me."

Daddy sat on the bed facing me and picked me up so that I was sitting up, and leaned me on his chest. I noticed that my hair was hanging in my face, and it was short!  
"What-what happened to my hair?" I asked. "Ow!" I exclaimed as I felt her taking the bandage off the back of my neck.

"Oh- well, this wound had gotten infected, you see, and your hair had gotten caught in it, and all tangled up. We had to cut it, it was too messy and tangled and it needed to be removed." The nurse explained.

I burst into tears. "But- my hair! Why did they cut it? Couldn't they have combed it out? Why?"

"No, sweetie, there was blood and...other material mixed in the tangles, it would have taken too much time. They had to get everything cleaned up as quickly as possible. Your hair will grow back."

I felt Daddy's hand on the back of my head. "It looks fine, Charlie, it's just a little shorter."

"But my hair's always been long! Short hair is for boys! I hate it!" I wailed. "OW!"

"All right, almost done here," the nurse said.

"How can you hate it, you haven't even seen it?" Uncle Sam asked. "It looks cute, Charlie."

"No it doesn't!" I sobbed. "I'll bet it looks terrible and you're just saying that!"

"No, it doesn't look terrible," Daddy said reassuringly. "You can still wear barrettes in it too. We can bring your Hello Kitty barrettes in for you to wear if you want."

I tried to pound my fists and kick my feet, forgetting that I couldn't move. I was so frustrated!

"This isn't fair!" I cried out. "Why is this happening?" I started to cry harder, and then growled with frustration when I tried to move again and nothing happened.

"All done, you can lay her back, Dad," the nurse told Daddy. I heard her moving around behind me as she cleaned up.

Daddy moved me away from his shoulder and looked at me. "What is it, Charlie?" he asked.

"I DON'T LIKE THIS!" I screamed. "I—I -CAN'T- MOVE! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!"

"Sweetheart-" Daddy said, and his face looked upset. "We'll get this figured out, I promise. Things will all work out."

"You don't know that!" I exclaimed angrily. "That's what people said about Mommy, and she died!" Saying that made me cry harder.

"Sweetie, you need to try and calm down," the nurse said in a loud voice.

I glared at her. "I can't calm down!" I said loudly. "Go away!"

Daddy pulled me to him and hugged me. I looked down and saw my hand laying limp on the bed next to us. It hit me like a ton of bricks just then. I couldn't move at all! I couldn't get up and run around, I couldn't play, I couldn't do anything! I couldn't run away from everyone looking at me with sad and worried looks on their faces and I couldn't run away and hide while I cried like I used to when Mommy was sick.

I did the only thing I could do- I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs. And I kept screaming.

"Charlie! CHARLIE!" Daddy was saying loudly. He gave me a little shake. "Stop it! Stop screaming!"

"I don't like this!" I sobbed, "I don't like this!"

"I know, baby," he said, hugging me to him again. He held me and I felt him stroking my hair as I cried on his chest.

When I was finally calm, he leaned over and got the box of tissues off of the side table, and pulled a couple out. He wiped my face and then held a tissue in front of my nose.

"Blow," he said, and I did, and then he wiped my nose. I felt humiliated because he actually had to wipe my snotty nose like I was a toddler- I could remember Mommy doing that with me and me fighting her when I was little. He leaned me back on the bed, got up to throw the tissues away and then went to wash his hands.

Uncle Sam had come over to stand on the other side of the bed. His forehead had worried lines in it as he looked down at me. He stroked my hair back from my face.  
"It's going to be okay," he said, and his voice sounded funny.

Daddy sat down on the other side of me. He took my hand and smiled at me when I turned my head to look at him.

All of a sudden, I felt tired. " M' gonna sleep," I mumbled. "M' tired," and my eyes started to close. I fell asleep listening to the beeping of the machines in the room.

 

 

Dr. Miriam had come back later in the afternoon with a machine and some other stuff. She did some other tests- made me close my eyes and then tell her when I could feel her touching different parts of me with a toothpick. I told her she was trying to trick me, because she never touched me at all when my eyes were closed! Then she hooked the machine up to my arms and legs and did something and I could see the muscles move under my skin, and she said it was measuring something. I couldn't really feel anything. And I still couldn't move anything on my own.

"What's wrong with me?" I asked her.

"Well, I want to run some more tests before we talk about that, Charlie," she said. She looked at Daddy. "I've scheduled an MRI for tomorrow," she told him. "We'll see what that shows, and if we need to do any other testing. I've put an order in for another blood draw in the morning as well."

"Is there anything you can tell us at this point, Doc ?" Grandpa John stepped forward.

She turned to him. "Well, the good news is that the autonomic nervous system seems to be working, so the toxins haven't affected those functions at all. Breathing, heart rate, digestion, all of those functions appear to be fine. I'm guessing that the toxins work on the central nervous system and that's why the paralysis is happening."

"Any guess on when the paralysis will get better?" Uncle Sam sounded hopeful.

Dr. Miriam gave him a look. "I don't do guesses," she told him.

"If it's a toxin, it should wear off eventually, shouldn't it?" Grandpa John asked.

"You would think that, yes," she replied. "However, this is something that I personally have never seen before, so I'm uncertain as to the properties of the toxins. I'm waiting to hear back from a couple of colleagues who have dealt with this in the past."

"I'm waiting to hear back from Bobby also," Grandpa John said.

She smiled at him. "Give Mr. Singer my...warmest regards, would you?" She looked down at me. "Charlie, we'll do some more testing tomorrow, and then by the afternoon we should be able to sit down and talk to you about everything, all right? You should try and eat something for dinner. I heard they have chocolate pudding on the menu tonight- do you like that?"

I turned my head away from her and didn't answer her. I didn't understand what any of them were talking about, and they were talking about me as if I wasn't here!  
Daddy said, "Charlie, the doctor asked you a question."

"Yes I like chocolate pudding. I don't care about dinner," I said rudely, still looking to the side.

Daddy walked partway out of the room with the doctor, talking to her, and I turned my head back. Uncle Sam was frowning slightly. "I know you're upset, Charlie, but that doesn't excuse you being rude to people."

"She was talking about me like I wasn't in the room!" I flared. "You all were!" I glared up at him.

Daddy walked back over to me. "Charlie, she was just letting us know what was going on," he said.

"I didn't understand any of that!" I snapped, and tears came to my eyes. It reminded me of when I'd had to sit in the doctor's offices with Mommy and everyone would be talking over my head about what was going on with her and nobody would ever explain anything to me.

"All right," Uncle Sam said, "From now on, we'll try to include you in the conversation and explain things. What do you want to know?"

"She used all those big words! What did they mean?"

Daddy looked at Grandpa John and Uncle Sam. "Okay, Charlie...well, you have something called toxins in your bloodstream. It's a bad chemical, I guess you could say, and the doctor thinks that's what's making you paralyzed."

"How did it get there? Will it always be there? Will I be paralyzed forever? Or will it get out of me?" I looked from Daddy to Uncle Sam.  
They glanced at each other again, doing their 'talking without words' thing.

"The changeling... put it in you when she was attached to your neck. It goes into the spine," Uncle Sam told me.

"The effects of a toxin do wear off in time," Grandpa John said, "We just don't know much about this one. Bobby's trying to find out more information for us."

"The- the monster was putting stuff in me?" I asked, horrified. I didn't think I had any more tears left, but I felt my eyes fill. "That's so yucky!"

"Yeah, it is," Daddy agreed, taking my hand.

I heard the door open again and a nurse walked in with a tray. "The doctor ordered this for you, just to make sure you could handle eating," she said. She put the tray down on the little side table that had wheels on it and left. Daddy took the cover off of the plate. "It's soup," he said. "There's some applesauce too, and chocolate pudding, like Dr. Miriam said. Are you hungry? You must be, you slept through lunch." He leaned over and pressed a button on the side of the bed, and the head of the bed began to raise up.

I could see the tray now, and I realized that my mouth was watering. Just then my stomach rumbled.

Daddy chuckled. "I heard that," he said, smiling at me. He sat on the bed, facing me, and pulled the tray over next to him, then picked up the spoon.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Well, I was going to feed you, since you can't exactly feed yourself right now," he said.

"That—that's all baby food!" I nodded at the tray. "I'm not having trouble eating food!" I turned my head away from them.

"I think the doctor wants to make sure that your stomach can digest things properly," Uncle Sam said.

"I'm not eating it!" I snapped. "And you're not gonna feed me!" I glared at Daddy, who had put the spoon in the bowl of soup and was stirring it. He stopped, and looked at me.

"Charlie, how are you going to eat then? Huh?" he asked me. "Come on," he said in a wheedling tone. I glanced at him and he had taken the spoon out of the soup and was holding it towards me. I wanted so bad to knock the spoon out of his hand and send it flying across the room, but I couldn't.

I closed my mouth tight and turned my head away again. Daddy sighed, sounding frustrated.

"Baby, you've got to eat," he told me.

I turned back to him and glared up at him. "I'm not a baby! I don't need—I don't want you to feed me! I don't want anyone to!"

"But Charlie, you can't do it yourself. You've got to let me-"

"No!" I screeched shrilly. I tried to kick my feet, but I couldn't. I huffed in frustration.

Grandpa John stepped forward. "Now you listen, little girl," he said sternly. "You do need this right now. You need to let us help you, because you can't do things for yourself. Whatever this is that's making you refuse, you've got to get over it and stop being stubborn. You've got to listen to your dad and do what he says, and you need to mind all of us, because we only want what's best for you, and we're trying to take care of you. Let- your father- feed you." he said emphatically. "Is that clear?" He raised his eyebrows.

Tears came to my eyes. "Y-yes, Grandpa John," I said, feeling my chin tremble. He had never spoken to me like that before.

I looked at Daddy. "I just feel- I feel like I'm being a big baby, that I should be able to do this, 'cause I don't need to be taken care of, I'm the one, I took care of my mommy-" and then tears were pouring down my face.

"Oh, sweetheart," Daddy said. "You're not a big baby. You literally can't take care of yourself right now because you're- paralyzed. You can't move to feed yourself or walk or anything! And it will get better but it's going to take time. And while you're getting better you need to let us help you and take care of you. That's what families do, baby girl. You took care of your mom for a long time, now it's your turn. Let us take care of you."

"I—I can't!" I sobbed. "I—I'm not used to it!"

Daddy put the spoon back in the bowl and pulled me into a hug. "I know," he said kindly. "It's going to be hard and uncomfortable, but you will, all right? Don't be so hard on yourself. You're sick and you need to be taken care of, and that's what we're going to do." He grabbed a tissue and wiped my tears away, then sat down again.  
He picked up the spoon again and spooned some soup up. "Ready?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and then let it out. "Okay," I said. He brought the spoon to my mouth and fed me, and I swallowed the soup.

He gave me another spoonful and then wiped my chin off. "How is that?" he asked.

"It's good," I said. I felt embarrassed and tried to make myself not feel that way.

"I'll give you a bite with some noodles, okay?" he said, dipping the spoon into the bowl.

By the time he had fed me everything, I was tired. He pushed the tray to the side and got up to wash his hands.

"We're going to go get something to eat, and Dad needs his medicine," Uncle Sam said. "Why don't you come too, Dean?"

"Just bring me a burger back, or something like that," Daddy said.

"Dean, you should come back to the motel with us and get some sleep," Grandpa John said to him.

"I'm fine," Daddy sat up.

"Dean, you've barely slept, I can tell. I'll come back after we eat and you can go back with Dad-"

Daddy interrupted Uncle Sam. "No. I'm not leaving," he said stubbornly.

"I can stay here overnight and keep watch, if you're worried-" Uncle Sam tried again.

"No, Sam, I'm staying," Daddy said. "I'm not leaving her."

"All right," Grandpa John said. "Did you talk to the nurses about them bringing in a cot for you?"

"No," Daddy shook his head, and I noticed how tired he did look. He was starting to get dark circles under his eyes.

"I'm going to ask when we leave," Grandpa John told him. He and Uncle Sam leaned down to kiss my forehead and ruffle my hair.  
"We'll be back tomorrow," Uncle Sam said.

I was just about falling asleep as they left. It seemed like I got tired really quickly now. I saw Daddy take my hand and hold it in both of his just before my eyes closed.


	35. Chapter 35

I woke up hearing talking. Grandpa John said, "Okay, Bobby, you're on speaker." His voice sounded a little echo-y.

"How ya holdin' up, Dean? How is she?" I heard Uncle Bobby's voice, but it sounded tinny. The door in the room was open- I guessed they had gone into the bathroom to talk.I turned my head and looked around. There was a styrofoam cup and a wrapped sandwich on the tray table next to the bed.

"I'm...okay. No change yet, they're still doing tests," Daddy said.

"Well, Miriam is one of the best doctors I know, and she's the one you want for somethin' like this, she's been researching viruses and stuff and how they live in the body, for decades now," Uncle Bobby said.

"Did you find anything new?" Uncle Sam asked.

"I did find somethin' interesting. The changeling is always female, and takes the child's DNA from the synovial fluid, right? Creates a changeling kid, who goes to their home and feeds on the mom, and gets rid of the dad so he can't interefere. What they've found is that the changelings need something from the female hormones and that's why the kids feed exclusively on the moms. The realtor must've seen that Charlie didn't have a mom, so she just didn't bother makin' a replacement, and just kept her around for an extra snack."

"So that's why Ben came back from the house, and Charlie didn't," I heard Daddy say.

"Any info about the toxin that's secreted? Is there an antidote?" Grandpa John asked.

"Not that I could find. There's descriptions of the toxin, says that the changeling adapted it to paralyze the victim, 'cause kids are wiggly little things, and it needed to incapacitate them so it could feed in peace. All the eyewitness accounts of survivors, and there ain't many, say that paralysis is temporary," Uncle Bobby said.

"Let's hope so," Uncle Sam said.

"Keep looking for information on the survivors, and any sort of antidote," Grandpa John said.

"Yeah, I'll keep checkin', you keep me in the loop too. Tell the rugrat I said hey."

"Will do, thanks, Bobby," Daddy replied. I heard the beep of a phone.

"All right," Uncle Sam said, "At least we got some new information. We'll see you tomorrow, Dean."

I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep. I heard footsteps moving around and the squeak of the door hinges, and then the scrape of the chair next to my bed. I heard Daddy unwrap his sandwich, and then a heavy sigh.

"Son of a bitch," Daddy whispered. "Son- of- a- bitch."

Then I heard sniffling. I opened my eyes slightly. Daddy was sitting next to the bed, leaning over a little bit, with his hand over his eyes, and his shoulders were shaking. He was crying! I didn't know what to do. I wanted to reach out and hug him but I couldn't. His chest hitched a couple of times, and then he sat up straight and wiped his face off with his hands.

"All right, Winchester, keep it together," he said to himself in a low voice. He picked up a napkin and wiped his eyes, and then cleared his throat and took a drink from the cup. I started to fall back to sleep as he ate his hamburger.

 

Breakfast was scrambled eggs, toast, and sliced pears. The eggs kept falling off of the fork onto the bed, and once they fell on my chin. The pears were drippy and dripped on the sheet and my chin. Daddy and I actually laughed about it.

The door opened and a nurse walked in pulling a machine on wheels. She hooked up a blood pressure cuff and it did it's thing. Then I saw her pull out a syringe. I got scared.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, we need to draw some blood," she told me. "It'll just take a second," she smiled at me.

"No!" I exclaimed. "I—I hate needles!"

"Well, it's okay, I don't have to stick you, I'm just going to take the blood from your IV port here," she lifted up my arm. My arm had tubing taped to it that went to a bag of liquid that was hanging over the bed.

"What is that? I have an IV? There's already a needle in me? No! Get it out!" I cried, starting to panic. I moved my head back and forth, even though it made the back of my neck hurt. "Get it oooouuuuutt!" I wailed, bursting into tears.

"Charlie, Charlie, what's all this?" Daddy stood up and leaned over me. "Why are you scared of needles?"

"I don't like needles!" I looked up at him through my tears. "I hate getting shots, and all that stuff, the IV and needles and stuff, it reminds me of- of Mommy, when she was getting her treatments!"

"Oh, sweetheart," Daddy sat down on the bed and lifted me up to hug me. "Shh, it's all right. They're going to check your blood to see if the level of toxins is lower."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

He pulled back and looked at me. "If the levels are lower, it means the toxins are leaving your body and hopefully you'll start getting better." He leaned over and grabbed a napkin and wiped my face off.

"All done," said the nurse cheerfully. "They'll be in soon to take you up for the MRI."

"Oh," Daddy said. "They scheduled it for this morning?"

"Yes, Dr. Skinner wanted it done first thing," the nurse left the room.

Daddy put me down and stood up. "I guess we better finish your breakfast, huh?" he asked.

"I'm done," I said. "I'm not hungry any more."

"All right," he ate the rest of my toast and put the fork on the plate. "You want me to ask about getting a t.v. in here for you?" he asked me. "At least that'll be something to do, we can see if we can find your cooking show."

"I guess," I said.

He leaned over and took my hand in both of his. "Listen, Charlie, I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, and his voice was serious.

"What, Daddy?" I felt nervous.

"What I was saying yesterday- I'm sorry about how I treated you at the party, I didn't realize that you might feel insecure about Ben. If he ends up becoming part of the family, that doesn't mean that I'm going to love you any less, and it doesn't mean that he's going to replace you or anything."

"But- but I'm so bad, I get in trouble lots, and-"

"Charlie, that has nothing to do with how much I love you, okay? And you think Ben doesn't get into trouble? He's a 10-year-old boy. When I was 10, Grandpa John was constantly smacking my butt because of all the trouble I caused."

I giggled a little bit at that, trying to imagine Daddy as a little boy and getting in trouble with Grandpa John.

"You love your mom, and you love me, right?" Daddy asked. I nodded. "Well, because you love me, that doesn't make the love for your mom any less, does it?"

"No," I replied.

"We can have the same feelings for different people, but it doesn't make the feelings any less, just different. Does that make sense?"

"I guess," I said slowly, still trying to think about it.

He leaned forward and looked me in the eyes. "Charlie, you're my daughter, and no matter what happens, nothing is going to change that or the love I have for you. Not your behavior, not another person, nothing, okay?"

Tears filled my eyes. It looked like Daddy had tears in his eyes too as he leaned down and picked me up to hug me. "I wish to God that Liz had let me know about you sooner," he said softly. "I'd give anything to have been involved in your life from the beginning." I felt him stroke the back of my head. He pulled back and looked at me. "We're going to get through this, whatever happens, okay? And I'm going to be by your side," he smiled at me and wiped my tears with his thumb, then hugged me again.

He laid me down and wiped the tears off of my face, then wiped his own face. The door opened and a couple of people came in. A nurse walked over to the bed and started to fiddle with the tubing on my arm.

"This is Debbie, she's going to take you to the MRI lab," the nurse said.

Daddy stood up. "I hope it's okay if I come along," he said.

"Are you the father?" Debbie asked. Daddy nodded. "Sure, Dad, you just can't go into the lab, because of the machine."

I heard some metallic clanking and the bed began to roll. Daddy walked beside me.

"What is an MRI?" I asked.

"It's a special machine that can look inside of you and take pictures, like x-rays, but different," Debbie told me as she walked.

She pushed my bed into a room that had a huge machine in it. It was mostly dark, with dim lights in the ceiling. There was a loud humming in the room and it was cold. There was a long table that went into a round hole in the machine.

"Mr. Winchester, you have to stay in the other room," Debbie said. She pushed the bed over to the table and nodded at the other nurse who had come in. I heard a door close.

"What—what are you doing" I cried out, suddenly scared. "Is that- it that it? Do I have to go in that hole? I don't- I don't want to go in there, don't make me!"  
I turned my head back and forth quickly.

"It'll only be for about 20 minutes," Debbie said.

The other nurse held up a pair of thick headphones. "Look, we'll let you listen to music while you're in there," she said with a smile. "What kind of music do you like?"

"No!" I exclaimed. "I don't want to! What's in there? What will it do to me? What if I get stuck?" I was starting to panic. I wanted to get up and run, I wanted to kick and fight back, but I couldn't, and that made me feel even more upset.

The other nurse came over to my head. "Look, it's okay," she said soothingly. "It'll be over before you know it-"

I turned my head and bared my teeth at her, growling. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled. I tried to bite her as she reached for me, and she stepped away from me.

"Come on, little girl-" Debbie said.

"NO!" I shouted. "DON'T MAKE ME GO IN THERE! HELP! DADDYYYYY! HEEEEELP!" I screamed, and I kept screaming.

I heard a bang and then Daddy's voice, loud and angry. "What th- what's going on?"

"Sir, we're trying to get her in the machine-"

"Are you hearing her? She's saying she doesn't want to, she's terrified!" Daddy snapped. He came over to me and put his hand on my cheek.  
"Charlie, shh, it's all right, sweetheart," he said, "Calm down, you don't have to do this."

"Mr. Winchester, this has been ordered by Dr.-"

"I know," Daddy said, and his voice was deeper. "I'll talk to her about it after we get back to Charlie's room." He looked down at me and wiped my cheek off. "It's all right, baby, you don't have to do this today, we'll talk to Dr. Miriam."

I couldn't stop crying as they wheeled the bed back to my room. The nurse was quiet, and didn't say anything as she put the bed back into position.  
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were in the room, waiting for us. "What's wrong?" Uncle Sam asked with concern when he saw my face. "What happened?

"The doctor scheduled an MRI for Charlie, but she got scared when they took her in, and the techs were still trying to put her in the machine even though she was screaming and crying," Daddy told him. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John got angry looks on their faces.

Daddy sat down and picked me up and hugged me, stroking the back of my head until I stopped crying. He pulled back from me and wiped my face off and had me blow my nose. "What got you so scared, huh?" he asked me.

"I just didn't- there was that hole in the machine and it was dark and loud, I didn't want to go in, what does it do? What if I get stuck in there forever?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam, who said, "I think we'd better get someone in here to explain what will happen to Charlie, so that she feels more at ease about it."  
"I agree," said Grandpa John. "Why didn't they explain it to her beforehand?"

"I don't know, Dad," Daddy said. He looked at me. "How are you feeling now?" He laid me down on the bed.

"I'm tired," I said. "But I don't want to go to sleep."

"Why not?"

"I'm scared they'll put me in there," I said, and my eyes filled with tears again. "Don't let them!"

"I won't, Charlie," Daddy said soothingly. "It's all right, you can sleep if you want to."

"I'm cold, Daddy," I said. He got up and walked over to a wardrobe that was in the corner, and got a blanket out of it. He unfolded it and tucked it around me.  
Uncle Sam came over to the bed. "Look, I brought MaryBear for you," he said, and he put her in the bed next to me.

"And look what I found," Grandpa John said, grinning at me so big that his dimples showed. "I saw it in a store window and just had to get it for you." He was holding a plush Hello Kitty, she was wearing red overalls with a matching red bow and holding a little teddy bear in her arms.

"She's got her own version of MaryBear," Grandpa John told me, putting her on the bed next to Marybear.

"Thank you," I said, smiling up at them. Daddy started to stroke my hair back from my forehead, and I started to feel sleepy. My eyes started to flutter closed.

 

 

Dr. Miriam came into the room as Daddy was finishing feeding me lunch. She was holding a clipboard and a tablet.

"What's this I hear about Charlie getting scared?" she asked, smiling at me.

"Well, it was more than that," Daddy said, standing up. "She was flipping out, crying and screaming, and the nurses were still trying to get her onto the table." He looked angry again.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Miriam said smoothly. "The MRI lab is always completely scheduled and they run a tight ship, so they really try to get everyone in when they are supposed to. Charlie, will you agree to have an MRI if I show you how it works?"

"Um, I guess," I said.

"All right," she turned on the tablet and tapped it several times. Then she held it up in front of me. She played a short video that showed someone going into the machine, and what it did, and then it showed a diagram of the MRI machine and how it worked.

"So you see, it doesn't hurt you at all, and there is absolutely no danger of you getting stuck. All right?" Dr. Miriam looked at me.

"Okay," I agreed. "I'll do it. But I'm still scared to go inside."

Dr. Miriam looked at Daddy. "Well, there are options for that. We can sedate her, if that's all right with you, Dad. I can schedule it for first thing in the morning, and then they can put a sedative in her IV, and it will put her to sleep temporarily."

"Is that safe for her?" Daddy asked. "That won't cause any problems?"

"No, it shouldn't, and there will be people monitoring her the whole time. You can go in with her too, if you want." Dr. Miriam told him. She looked at the clipboard. "I do have some good news, the bloodwork we took this morning shows the level of toxins is slightly lower than it was yesterday."

Daddy let out a breath, and Uncle Sam said, "That's great!"

"Oh, good," Grandpa John said with relief.

"You had put in a request for a cot?" she asked Daddy. "I know that they are working on that, and they should be able to bring in a television today," she smiled at me again. "Do you have any more questions for me, Charlie?"

"Uhh...no, I guess not," I said, feeling shy.

"All right, well, if you think of any, don't hesitate to ask." She turned and walked out of the room.

"We're going to go get some lunch," Uncle Sam said. "Dean, what do you want us to bring you?"

"Whatever, a burger, a sub, you know," Daddy said. "Coffee'd be nice."

"If I bring you a salad, would you eat it?" Uncle Sam asked him. Daddy just gave him a look. "You've got to take care of yourself, Dean," Uncle Sam said, shaking his head.

"I'm fine," Daddy rubbed his face and sat up.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John left the room. Daddy looked at me.

"How you holdin' up, kiddo?" he asked me. "You feeling better about the MRI tomorrow?"

"I guess," I said. "You'll be there with me?"

"Yeah, I will, but you'll be asleep," he told me. "They're going to give you medicine to make you sleep, so that you're not aware of going into the machine. They do that sometimes for people who are claustrophobic."

"What's that mean?" I asked.

"People who are scared of small spaces," Daddy explained.

"Do you think I'm claus—claustruh-"

"No, I think you didn't know what was happening, and you got scared, which is normal. They should have explained the procedure to you beforehand," he took my hand. "I'm sorry I didn't think to have them talk to you about it, either, I should have asked."

"It's okay, Daddy," I said, smiling at him.

"I'm glad that the level of toxins is lower too, that's great. Hopefully it'll be less and less each day and you'll start feeling better."

The door opened and a nurse walked in. "Hello, time to change the bandage!" she said cheerfully. Daddy sat me up and leaned me against him like he had the day before.

"Your stubble is scratchy, Daddy," I told him. He hadn't shaved in at least a couple of days and it looked like he was growing a light beard now.  
"I'll get to it eventually," he said, rubbing his chin.

The nurse said, "It looks good back here!" and I heard her crumpling paper up. "All right, we're done."

Daddy laid me back down as the nurse walked out the door.

"Ben and Lisa are going to come and visit, if that's okay," he told me.

"Okay," I said.

"Lisa told Ben. Well, she told him what you said. Actually, she told me that he asked her about it. He said that he felt like he already knew you and he was comfortable with you," Daddy looked at me. "Are you okay with that?"

"I guess," I said uncertainly. "What's going to happen? Are you and Lisa going to get married? Do we have to live with them?"

Daddy chuckled, but he looked uncomfortable. "Uh, no, we haven't really talked about that...the only thing I'm concentrating on right now is you and getting you better. We'll figure out all the stuff with Ben later, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed. It made me feel a little bit nervous still, to think about Daddy having another kid. I was still worried that he would like Ben better than me.  
Daddy leaned forward and looked at me. "And I don't want you worrying about Ben either, you hear me? He's not going to 'take your place' or anything like that, understand?" He took my hand in his and kissed the back of it and smiled at me.

"Okay," I said, and smiled back at him.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came back at that point, and they had food for Daddy. Then someone brought a t.v. in and set it up in the corner. Then a nurse came in with the blood pressure machine and "checked my vitals".

Daddy turned on the t.v. and found the cooking show that I had liked to watch, and we watched a couple of episodes of that. Then it was dinner time, and Daddy fed me. I got sleepy after that, and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John said that they were going to go back to the hotel. I fell asleep after they left.

 

I woke up slowly. I felt a little fuzzy, like I was still really tired. I opened my eyes and turned my head. Daddy was standing by my bed, wearing the blue outfit that doctors wear. He glanced down at me and saw I was awake.

"There you are," he said, looking relieved. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"Like I'm really sleepy, fuzzy-headed," I told him, "My mouth is dry."

"That's from the sedative," Daddy said.

"Why are you wearing doctor clothes?" I asked him.

"I went into the lab with you, and you can't wear anything with metal on it, because the MRI machine has a big magnet in it. My jeans have metal rivets in them so I couldn't wear them," Daddy explained, "These scrubs are pretty comfortable actually."

"It's all done now?" I asked.

He nodded, "All done, baby. And everything went fine."

"Can I have breakfast now?"

"Well, breakfast is over but they left you some food- cereal with milk, peaches, and a danish. You want to eat that?" He started to raise the head of my bed.  
As he fed me, he told me that Uncle Sam had ordered home school stuff for me. "School starts in a couple of weeks around here, and we don't know what's going to be happening with you," Daddy said, "So at least if he has the materials, he can start teaching you. And then when you're better you can decide if you want to go back to school or not."

"What is home schooling like?" I asked. I had a vision of me sitting at an old-fashioned looking desk and Uncle Sam sitting at a big teacher's desk.

"It can be whatever you guys want it to be," he said, "But I'll tell you this, Uncle Sam isn't going to let you slack off or not do the work. He's always been really into school and he'll want you to do your best."

"I will, Daddy," I said, "I'm done, I'm not hungry any more."

"Are you sure? You barely ate any cereal."

"Yeah," I said. There was a knock on the door.

Daddy looked at me, then walked over to it and pulled it open.

"Lisa, hi, how ya doin'?" I heard him say. I turned my head so I could see them. Lisa and Ben stood in the doorway.

Daddy and Lisa hugged and he kissed her cheek. Then he looked down at Ben.

"Ben, hey," Daddy said, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder. Ben stepped forward and hugged Daddy around the waist. He looked up at Daddy and smiled at him.  
"Come on, Charlie's in here," Daddy said, and they walked a couple steps forward.

There were voices coming from the hallway, Uncle Sam sounding annoyed, "- need to follow the doctor's orders and at least get half- caff, or you're going to end up back in the hospital!"

Then Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were standing in the doorway looking at Lisa and Ben.

"Oh, hey, Lisa, hey, Ben," Uncle Sam said casually.

"Hi Sam," Lisa replied with a short smile. Grandpa John had raised his eyebrows. Everyone looked at each other for a long moment. Ben stepped backward into Lisa.

"Uh, Lisa Braeden, this is John Winchester, my dad," Daddy said uncomfortably.


	36. Chapter 36

Lisa stepped forward, holding out her hand, and Grandpa John stepped toward her and they shook hands.

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Lisa said formally. 

“And, uh, this is Ben... Lisa's son,” Daddy said, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder again. Ben stepped forward and held his hand out too. Grandpa John looked at Ben with a stern look on his face, and they shook hands.

“Nice to, uh, meet you,” Ben said, and he sounded nervous like I had when I had met Grandpa John for the first time. 

“Well, come say hi to Charlie,” Daddy said, and they all walked over to the bed. 

“Charlie, I brought you the Wolverine fig--” Ben started to say, but then he looked at me and his face went white. He swallowed uncomfortably, and then he started to cry. He turned and grabbed on to Lisa's waist, hiding his face. 

“Ben, what's wrong?” Lisa asked, putting her hand on his back. 

“It-- this is all my fault, if I hadn't taken Charlie to that house, Mrs. Wheeler wouldn't have--”

“Honey, we talked about that, remember? You don't know what might have happened, she had...taken other kids in the neighborhood too, and she might have gotten to you anyway.” Lisa looked down at him. 

Ben glanced at me. “I just—feel--so--bad--for-- Charlie--” he heaved out. 

Lisa looked at Daddy. “He's been excited since I told him, he said he's always wanted a sister or brother, and he's been making plans about her coming to visit and all the stuff he wants to do. I don't think he realized the extent of this,” she waved at the bed. “So it's a bit of a shock.” 

“Listen, Ben, we're going to figure this out, and Charlie's going to get better, okay?” Daddy leaned down and spoke to Ben. “And before you know it, the two of you are going to be running around together.” 

Ben looked at Daddy. “Promise?”

“Well, I can't exactly promise, but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure that Charlie is going to beat this,” Daddy stood up. He looked up. “What's this?”

“Oh,” Ben said, letting go of his mom and turning to me. “We got you a Wolverine balloon!” he said with a grin. He took the ribbon from his mom and pulled it down to show me the shiny mylar balloon of Wolverine crouching down with his claws out. “Isn't it cool!” 

“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks, Ben!” 

“I brought you the action figure too, but that was dumb of me 'cause you can't play with it right now,” Ben said sheepishly. He let the balloon drift up to the ceiling and then tied the ribbon onto the railing of the bed. “You have to get better so you can come to my house, and we can have an epic battle with my Batman figs, my friend Tyler has the X-Men's training lab, and we can go to his house and fight him! Or, you know, you can be on the X-men team and fight me,” he said. 

“So you told Ben that Dean is...” Grandpa John said. 

Lisa looked at him and nodded. “I am having testing done, but I think we can all agree looking at Ben that we know who his dad is,” she smiled at Daddy. 

“So what's the plan?” Grandpa John asked her. There was an edge to his voice. 

“Well...” she said, and Daddy stepped over and said, “The plan is to get Charlie better and then see where we are,” he looked at Lisa and then at Grandpa John. “Everything is kinda in upheaval right now, so we're not going to do anything concrete as of yet.” 

“Hmph,” Grandpa John said, tucking his arm into his broken arm so that they were crossed. He looked disapproving. 

“So... how's Charlie doing?” Lisa asked brightly.

“She's doing okay,” Daddy said. “She had an MRI this morning. They also took some blood, and the doctor said that the level of toxins is slightly lower.”

“Well, that's good, isn't it?” Lisa smiled.

“Yeah, it is. We're just waiting to see what the other tests show.” 

Lisa looked at me, and said, “Charlie, your hair looks cute like that.”

“I didn't know that they cut it,” I said sourly, “They said they had to 'cause it got messed up in the hurt part on my neck.” 

“Oh,” Lisa glanced at Dean. “That must have been a surprise!”

“It was, I hate it!” I said, and tears came to my eyes.

“Have you seen it yet?” Lisa asked. “It does look cute, sweetie.”

“No, I haven't,” I said, sniffling. 

She opened her purse and went through it, then pulled out a little makeup mirror. “Look,” she leaned over the bed and held it up so I could look into it. My hair was all one length, just below my chin. “See? It doesn't look bad.”

“Short hair is for boys,” I said glumly.

“Oh, it's not that short,” she said. “And hair always grows back, so in no time at all I bet you'll have long hair again. You can still wear barrettes and stuff too.”

“Oh, that's right,” Uncle Sam said. He reached into his jacket pocket and brought out my Hello Kitty barrettes.

“You like Hello Kitty?” Lisa asked, smiling at me again, “So do I.” She took the barrettes from Uncle Sam. “You want me to put these in?”

“Okay,” I agreed. I looked at Daddy. “She knows who Hello Kitty is!” 

Lisa scoffed, “Well, yeah, everyone knows Hello Kitty.”

“They couldn't tell that she's a cat! None of them could!” I told her. 

“Well, hey, it is kinda hard to tell!” Daddy protested. 

Lisa shook her head and looked at me. “Men,” she said, and rolled her eyes. She fiddled with my hair for a few moments, and then showed me what it looked like in the little mirror. She had pulled the front of my hair back a little bit on each side and secured it with the barrettes.   
“That looks adorable,” she said, “I'll have to remember that you like Hello Kitty.”

“Thanks,” I said gratefully.

“Thanks Lisa,” Daddy said. “It does look cute, Charlie,” he smiled at me.

“Dean, will you take me for a ride in your car sometime?” Ben looked up at Daddy.

“Uh, yeah, eventually, I don't want to leave Charlie right now though,” Daddy said. 

“It's a V-8, right?” Ben asked. “How many horses?” 

“Yeah, right,” Daddy said proudly. “550 horses!” 

“Awesome!” Ben grinned at Daddy, and Daddy grinned back at him. Daddy looked over at Grandpa John. “You know, she was my old man's car at first, so he knows plenty about her as well.” 

“Ben here loves cars and is very knowledgeable about them,” Daddy said to Grandpa John. 

“I can see that,” Grandpa John said. 

“So you had Dean's car first?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, I bought her off the lot in '73 and she was the boy's home away from home all throughout their childhood,” Grandpa John said.

“1973?” Ben asked in disbelief. “Wow, that's a long time ago! You must be pretty old!” 

“Uh, well--” Grandpa John said, and Lisa, Daddy, and Uncle Sam all started laughing. 

“What?” Ben looked back and forth at all of them. “What'd I say?” 

“Don't tell your Gramps he's old,” Daddy said, wiping his eyes. “He doesn't really like that.”

Then they all looked at each other, because Daddy had just called Grandpa John Ben's Grandpa! 

Ben looked nervous, and mumbled, “Sorry,” his face getting red.

Grandpa John stepped forward and put his hand on Ben's shoulder. “It's okay, kiddo,” he said, and he smiled at Ben. 

I didn't feel jealous that he called Ben that, because it just seemed right all of a sudden. 

“Uh, what grade are you going into, Charlie?” Ben asked me.

“Third,” I said. “What about you?”

“Fifth,” he said proudly, “and next year I'll be a middle schooler!” 

“Oh, please don't start talking about that, I'm not ready for that!” Lisa said, pretending to be upset. 

“Are you gonna go here?” Ben asked. “Maybe we'll be in the same school!” 

“Well, we're not sure what we're going to do,” Daddy told him. “And for right now, Uncle Sam is going to home-school her.”

“Oh,” Ben looked disappointed. 

“We'll see what happens,” Uncle Sam said, “Charlie may decide she doesn't like home-schooling and want to go to regular school.” 

“First priority is getting her better,” Daddy took my hand and smiled at me. 

Grandpa John's phone rang and he answered it, and then left the room.

Daddy looked at Lisa and then at Uncle Sam. “I think he's taking this easier than he took the news of Charlie,” he said quietly.

“Well, he's already used to having a grand-daughter, what's one more grand-kid?” Uncle Sam asked, and Daddy smacked his shoulder. 

“I'm glad,” Lisa said with relief, “From what you told me about him before, I was kinda expecting a fight.” 

“He seems a little, uh--” Ben said slowly.

“He's a little scary at first, but he's really nice,” I told him. “He is scary when he gets mad though.” 

“Well, being able to be scary is what got him through Vietnam and a whole bunch of dangerous hunts,” Daddy said. “But he's a good guy.”

“And family is important to him,” Uncle Sam said. 

The door opened and a nurse walked in pushing the machine that did blood pressure. “Time to check your vitals!” she said. “We've got the whole family here today? That's nice.” She put the blood pressure cuff on my arm and the thermometer in my ear. After a couple minutes, everything was done. “Everything looks good, I'll let the doctor know.” she smiled at Daddy, and left. 

“Well, we'd better go,” Lisa said. “I've got to take Ben shopping for all of his back-to-school supplies and clothes.” 

Ben rolled his eyes. “I haaaaaate shopping!” he groaned.

“I told you, we'll stop for ice cream afterwards, as long as you co-operate with me, buddy,” Lisa ruffled his hair. 

“Bribery always works,” Daddy said. “Thanks for stopping by, Lis.” They hugged each other, and he kissed her cheek again. She turned to me and leaned down to kiss my forehead. 

“Bye, Charlie, we'll see you again,” she said with a smile. 

Ben gave Daddy a quick hug and waved at Uncle Sam. “Bye!” he said, and then they left the room. 

“I'm tired now,” I told them, and Daddy lowered the head of my bed. He pulled up the covers and tucked MaryBear in more securely next to me. Then he and Uncle Sam walked over near the door and started to talk in quiet voices. I tried to hear what they were saying but I fell asleep.

 

 

“Charlie,” Daddy said quietly. “Wake up, baby, the doctor is here to talk to us.” 

I opened my eyes and turned my head. Daddy made the head of the bed raise up so that I was sitting up.

“Well, the results from the MRI are in,” Dr. Miriam said to me. “Everything appears normal, there is nothing to indicate the cause of the paralysis. So we're going to keep checking the bloodwork daily, to make sure that the toxin levels are lowering, and see if Charlie starts to gain any movement back as the toxins leave her system. I'm going to do some more testing tomorrow if the levels are down, all right?”

“Another MRI?” I asked.

“No, I'll check your muscles and nerves again like I did the other day,” She looked back and forth at all of us. “Any questions?” 

Daddy looked at her, and then at me. “Charlie, the doctor wants to do a special study on you,” he said. “This is the first chance that a doctor has had to actually test a victim of a changeling, and she wants to keep track of your progress and health.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking at him and then at the doctor.

“I've managed to isolate the toxin from your blood, and it has some qualities that we've never seen before, so this is important for research. I'd like to keep testing your blood, and your body as it heals from the toxins, and write an article about it. It will be important to share with all the hunters out there in the future, so that they know how to treat any potential future victims. And I can begin to work on an antidote as well.” Dr. Miriam said. 

“So you have to keep testing me? Am I gonna have to get lots of MRIs?” I asked, getting nervous. 

“Most of it will be drawing your blood, and testing anything else that comes up. Once you begin to regain the function of your muscles we'll work with you and also do testing if needed.”

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam and then looked at me. “So what that means, Charlie, is that we're going to be staying here for now.”

“You mean living here? In the hospital?”

“No, we'll find an apartment or something near here. This is a teaching hospital in a university, it's a little bit different than a regular hospital, they couldn't have us stay for a long time any way. Uncle Sam and I are looking into finding a place to live right now.” Daddy looked at Uncle Sam again.

“And you and I can work on your home-schooling while you're getting better,” Uncle Sam said to me with a smile. 

“So we're going to be near Ben and Lisa?” I asked. 

“Yeah, for now,” Daddy nodded. 

“What do you think of all that, Charlie?” Dr. Miriam asked. “Are you willing to do the testing and everything?”

“I...guess,” I said. “Will it be a lot?”

“At first, yes, we'll probably want to see you once a week, but that will change as you get better.” Her phone made a chiming noise and she glanced at it. “I've got to go. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and Charlie, thank you for agreeing to do this.” She smiled at me and walked out of the room.

Daddy leaned over and took my hand. “What do you think, kiddo?”

“It's okay, I guess,” I said. “Are we gonna live in Ben's neighborhood?”

Daddy chuckled. “No, the houses there are...out of our range.” 

“We'll have to find somewhere that will fit all of us, too.” Uncle Sam said. “Dad's going to need to stay with us until he gets his cast off.” His phone beeped and he looked at it. “He needs help in the cafeteria, I'll be back.”


	37. Chapter 37

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the medical details and explanations are fiction, based somewhat in fact.   
> *************

"Charlie," Uncle Sam said gently. I felt a hand on my cheek. "Charlie, you should wake up and have some lunch."

I opened my eyes- Uncle Sam was standing next to the bed and there was a tray on the table next to him. I could smell something hot.  
I looked around. "Where's Daddy?" I asked.

"He's taking a shower," Uncle Sam told me. "Do you want me to feed you?"

"Oh, uh-" I felt myself blushing. "I'm- uh- I can wait for Daddy."

"If you're hungry now, I can do it," he said, raising the head of the bed. Just then my stomach growled. He smiled at me. "I think your stomach just answered for you."

"But—but-"

"What's the matter?" Uncle Sam had taken the top off of the tray and was looking at the food. He looked over at me.

"I'm...embarrassed." I said quietly.

"Honey, you don't have to be," he said. "It's all right, we're all here to help you, remember?"

"Okay," I agreed. "It's just—hard."

"I know it is," Uncle Sam sat down on the bed and pulled the tray over. "You'll get the hang of it though. Let's see, we've got mac and cheese today, a small salad, and sliced peaches." He picked up the fork and looked at me. "What do you want first?"

"Uh, mac and cheese," I said, still feeling embarrassed. I felt my face getting hot as he held the fork up to my mouth. I had gotten used to Daddy feeding me, and I felt comfortable with it, but I hadn't thought that anyone else would.

"I brought the workbooks that I got you before, if you want to do any of those today," Uncle Sam told me as he held up another forkful of noodles. "The home-schooling materials should be here by the end of the week."

"What if- what are we gonna do if I still can't walk or, or move my hands and arms?" I asked him.

Uncle Sam put the fork down and put his hands on his thighs. "Well, then I'll have to write down your answers," he said. "I could probably figure out something with the computer, there are programs that allow you to speak into a microphone and it writes out what you said on the computer. We could do that."

"Okay," I said, realizing that it was a possibility that I might be like this forever. "Do you- do you think I'm always going to be like this?" I asked him.

He looked at me for a long moment, and something in his face changed. "No, honey, I don't," he said. "I think you're going to make a full recovery and it will be like nothing ever happened."

Tears came to my eyes as I felt scared- I felt scared that that might not happen. "But what if—what if-" I stuttered.

"No, don't do what if," Uncle Sam soothed.

The bathroom door opened and Daddy came into the room with a towel around his neck. He looked at us, and said, "You making my girl cry, Sammy? Am I gonna have to take you outside and rough you up?"

Uncle Sam glanced at him. "No, Dean, we're just talking about the future," he said.

Daddy walked over to me and put his hand in my cheek. "Don't cry, baby," he smiled at me. "Everything's going to work out, I know it." He had shaved and Uncle Sam had brought him a change of clothes this morning. He looked more relaxed and like he felt better.

Uncle Sam's phone buzzed and he looked at it. "You take over here, Dean, I've got to call Dad," he stood up, and went into the hallway. It was damp and rainy outside today, and Grandpa John had stayed at the hotel, because the weather made his arm hurt more than usual.

Daddy sat down and started to feed me. "What were you and Uncle Sammy talking about?" he asked.

"What will happen if I don't get better," I said, "If I'm always like this."

"You won't be," he said confidently, "I know it."

Uncle Sam came back into the room in a few minutes. "I asked him to look up apartments in the area, and he's done something to the laptop," he rolled his eyes. "and of course he can't tell me what he did. The man has a limited grasp of technology."

"It's not something he grew up with, you know how he always was. He understands how a car engine works and how to take apart a gun, but when it comes to electronics he has a blind spot," Daddy said with a chuckle.

There was a knock on the door and a young African-American woman came into the room. She had braids in her hair with beads in them that clicked against each other when she moved her head. "My name is Imani," she told us. "I'm a physical therapist, Dr. Skinner told me she wanted me to start working with you."

"Uhh...for what?" Daddy stood up.

"This is something we do with coma patients and paraplegics, you have to start exercising the muscles so that they don't lose muscle tone and blood flow. I'll teach you how to do the exercises too and you can do them at home," she explained.

"Does that mean that Dr. Miriam thinks that Charlie-" Daddy started.

"She just wants to cover all the bases," Imani said smoothly. "It won't do for Charlie if she gains her movement back but then she has trouble getting around because everything is weak from her just laying still in the bed for weeks."

"We'll do whatever she needs," Uncle Sam said with a smile at her.

Imani moved my arms and legs around to check for "range of motion" she said, and then started to rub my arm. "She still has good range of motion and I'm not feeling any knots or tightness, which is good. We want to make sure she's still got good circulation in her limbs, and massage will help with that and prevent rigidity in the muscles as well. You all should learn how to do this too, so that you can do it every day for her," Imani told Daddy and Uncle Sam. She massaged one arm, and then showed Uncle Sam how to massage the other arm.

"You can press a little harder, she's not fragile," Imani said with a smile.

"I don't want to hurt her," Uncle Sam said.

"I can't feel it anyway, Uncle Sam," I told him.

Imani massaged my right leg, and then showed Daddy how to do the other leg.

"Good, you two are a quick study. Tomorrow I'll come back and we'll start with exercises, okay?" she smiled at me.

I felt tired at that point. "I'm tired," I said, "I want to sleep."

"All right," Daddy said. "You go ahead, I'll be right here," he sat down next to the bed.

 

 

As I woke up I could hear low talking.

"But doctor, I love you! I've always loved you!" a woman said, and then there was a swell of music. I opened my eyes. Daddy was leaning towards the t.v., watching with his elbows on his knees.

"Doctor Sexy, MD?" I asked, "I didn't know you liked that!"

Daddy sat up straight and glanced at me, his face getting red. "Oh, I, uh, was just checking to see what's on," he said, clearing his throat. "How do you know about Doctor Sexy?"

"Mommy had a crush on one of the actors, so she watched it a lot," I said. "It's okay if you like it, Daddy."

He cleared his throat again. "I don't really, uh, watch it on a regular basis, you know, I just..." he looked down and pressed the remote until he found a cooking show.

I realized what had woken me up. I looked down at my hand.

"Daddy," I said uncertainly, "I can feel something." I looked at him. "It feels like- like when your hand falls asleep, it's all prickly!"

Daddy stood up and walked over to me, and looked at my hand. "Well-" he started to say.

I looked down at my hand, and then suddenly, my fingers twitched! I looked up at him again. "Did you see that!" I cried out, and then burst into tears.

"Did you- did you mean to do that?" he asked. "Can you do it again?"

I looked down, and concentrated, and my fingers twitched again. I looked at him and he was smiling with tears in his eyes.

"Let me call the doctor," he said, pulling out his phone. "I'll be right back," he told me, and left the room.

 

He came back in a couple of minutes, still talking on the phone. "-see you soon." he said, and hung up. He smiled at me. "I let them know at the nurse's station, and they're going to page Dr. Miriam. I called Sammy too, he's going to come right over with Dad." He took my hand and squeezed it. "How are you feeling?"

"It still tingles a little bit, not as much," I told him. I made my fingers twitch in his hand, and he chuckled, and tears came to his eyes again. He leaned down and hugged me. "Charlie, this is great!" he said happily.

The next couple of hours were a flurry of activity as nurses came in to check my vitals, draw more blood, and then Dr. Miriam came in to run tests. She said that the prickly feeling could be my nerves "waking up" from the effect of the toxin, and that it should go away. I could also feel her touching the skin on the back of my hand when my eyes were closed. It was exciting!

 

The door opened and Uncle Sam came in quickly, followed by Grandpa John. Uncle Sam came right up to the bed. "So what's the news?" he asked, looking at Daddy and me.

"The doctor thinks that the nerves are "waking up" from the toxin and that's what the prickly feeling is," Daddy told him in an excited voice. He looked at me. "Go ahead, Charlie."

"Watch," I said to Uncle Sam, and I made my fingers twitch.

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!" Uncle Sam said happily, and Grandpa John said, "Wow, Charlie, that's great!" in a rough voice. His eyes looked tired and the stubble on his face was getting thick.

"What's wrong, Grandpa John?" I asked.

"I'm just having a little more pain today than usual," he said casually.

Uncle Sam turned to him and gave him a dirty look. "And someone decided to drink while they're taking pain meds," he said in a hard voice.

"Uh oh, Dad, looks like you're on Sammy's shit list," Daddy said with a grin.

"I know how to handle myself," Grandpa John said with annoyance.

"Dad, you're not a young man any more, and you were just in the hospital for high blood pressure," Uncle Sam said. "You can't be slamming back the whiskey whenever you want, like you used to."

"Jesus, Sam, I wasn't 'slamming it back'," Grandpa John's voice was angry now. "I had a couple of fingers and I was nursing it while I was doing research, just like I've always done."

"While you're taking pain pills, which you're not supposed to do!" Uncle Sam exploded, frowning at Grandpa John.

"All right, all right, let's calm down," Daddy raised his hands. "Dad, can you agree not to drink any more right now? Until you're off the meds?"

"Dean, I know how to handle things," Grandpa John said stubbornly.

"Dad-" Daddy gave Grandpa John a look.

"All right, fine!" Grandpa John huffed. "If it will get both of you off my back-"

"Thank you," Uncle Sam said pointedly. "I'm going to hold you to that, too-"

"Okay, Sam, drop it now, huh?" Daddy asked. "Let's enjoy the good news here."

"I'm going to go out and get some ice cream, to celebrate," Uncle Sam said, getting out the keys. "I'll be back soon."

They brought dinner in at the same time that Uncle Sam came back. He had gotten little ice cream sundaes for all of us.  
"That chicken looks good," he said to me, "The ice cream will keep."

"Nah, the hot fudge is going to make the ice cream melt too fast, she should eat that first," Daddy said.

"Dean, she should eat dinner-"

Daddy interrupted Uncle Sam. "Sam, this is a special occasion. A very special occasion, in fact, and I don't care if Charlie doesn't eat a bite of her dinner, I want her to celebrate!" He frowned as Uncle Sam started to protest again.

"Having ice cream for one meal isn't going to hurt her, Sam," Grandpa John said, putting his hand on Uncle Sam's shoulder.

Uncle Sam sighed. "Fine," he said, and picked up his sundae.

I could only eat a couple bites of my dinner after I was finished with the ice cream. Daddy ate the rest of my meal.

"Well, I guess you're good to go," Uncle Sam stood up. "Dad, do you want to go get dinner now, or wait?"

"I could eat," Grandpa John said.

"Me too, bring me back a burger, extra onions, with large fries," Daddy said to Uncle Sam.

"Dean, you just ate most of Charlie's dinner!"

"So? I'm still hungry! And bring me some pie, too, I'm in the mood for pie."

Uncle Sam rolled his eyes. "You and your pie," he muttered. "Come on, Dad, let's see what they have in the cafeteria."

 

 

I woke up in the middle of the night to both my hands prickling. It was uncomfortable.

"Daddy," I called out quietly. He was laying on the cot, facing the wall. "Daddy," I called louder.

"Hmm?" he rolled over and sat up. "What, Charlie? What's wrong?"

"My hands," I whimpered. "they both feel all prickly. It won't stop."

He got up and came over to me. "Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said when he saw my face. "I wish I could help you."

He sat on the bed next to me, and stroked my hair back off of my forehead, over and over. It relaxed me, but I couldn't fall asleep, because the prickling and buzzing in my hands was too uncomfortable. I finally did fall asleep, long after Daddy had fallen asleep next to me.

 

I had had some excitement in the morning when I woke up- I could wiggle the fingers of both hands now- but by mid-morning I was getting grumpy. The pins-and-needles feeling had spread to my arms, and it would come and go. I could feel my hands now too, and they didn't have the tingling sensation any more, but having the prickly feelings in my arms was uncomfortable. I was tired from not sleeping well, and I couldn't rest easily because of the feelings that came and went in my arms.  
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came in during a marathon of Doctor Sexy, MD that Daddy and I were watching. It seemed like the only thing that could distract me right now was watching t.v.

"Hey, Charlie, how are you doing?" Uncle Sam asked.

"She's got feeling in both hands now," Daddy told him. "And she can move her fingers too! Show them, Charlie!"

"Shh," I glanced at them. "In this episode we find out who the father of the triplets is!"

"Haven't you already seen it?" Daddy asked.

"Yeah, but it's good!" I told him.

"Charlie, some of the home-schooling textbooks came," Uncle Sam put a bag he was carrying down on the bed and pulled out a thick book. "Look at this, this is Language Arts!"

I glanced at him again and then looked back at the t.v. "SHH, Uncle Sam!" I said, frowning at him.

"She's a little grumpy, she didn't sleep well last night," I heard Daddy say.

"That's no excuse for her to talk that way-" Uncle Sam started to say, but Daddy interrupted him. "Give her a break, Sam, she's really uncomfortable. She's got that prickly feeling all up and down her arms and it comes and goes at random times."

"Oh, geez," Uncle Sam said.

"The t.v. is the only thing that distracts her," Daddy said.

A commercial came on and I turned my head to look at them. "Watch!" I said, and I moved my fingers all at the same time.

"That's great!" Grandpa John said, smiling at me, and Uncle Sam said, "Excellent!"

The door opened, and Imani walked into the room. "Good morning," she said, smiling at us. "How are we doing?"

"She can move both hands now, and has gotten feeling back in them," Daddy told her.

"Yes, I read the nurse's notes from this morning," Imani said.

"And you are-" Grandpa John questioned.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm a physical therapist, my name is Imani. Are you also going to be caring for Charlie?"

"Yes," Grandpa John told her. "I'm her grandfather."

"Good, then I can show all three of you the exercises and massage techniques you'll need to do. It's important that you keep up with all this, especially now that we're seeing that she's getting function and feeling back," she said.

"Why don't we turn off the t.v. for now so that we can concentrate on this," Uncle Sam said.

"Aww, I don't want to, I'm watching!" I complained.

"Let's turn it off, baby," Daddy said to me. "Just for a little while."

"Nooooo," I whined.

Uncle Sam picked up the remote and turned off the t.v.

"Hey!" I yelled at him. "Turn that back on right now!" I frowned at him.

Uncle Sam frowned right back at me. "Young lady, you don't raise your voice to me like that," he said sternly.

"I don't want to do this right now!" I snapped.

"Charlie..." Daddy said uneasily. He looked uncomfortable.

"Go away!" I snapped, and I turned my head to the side, away from them.

"Don't be rude," Daddy said. I ignored him.

Imani led Daddy and Uncle Sam a couple of feet away from the bed and spoke to them quietly for a couple of minutes. Then they all walked over to the bed. She began to move my arms and legs and go through the exercises, and had each of them practice the movements, even Grandpa John, even though he could only do some of them since he could only use one hand. She did the leg exercises, and then started to do the massage.

"Oww," I whimpered.

"What's wrong, Charlie?" Daddy asked with concern.

"My arms are feeling prickly right now," I whined.

"Does this make it worse, or better, or no change?" Imani asked as she massaged me.

"It doesn't do anything," I told her. I wanted her to stop and just go away so I could keep watching my show!

She kept massaging my arm, and then Daddy did the other arm, and she showed him how to hold it and rub the muscles. Then she started to do my leg.  
"Can you hurry?" I asked her.

"Charlie," Uncle Sam said. I looked at him, and he was giving me a look. He massaged my other leg, and Grandpa John watched. He couldn't do the massage one-handed.

Finally she was done. Daddy and Uncle Sam said thank you to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she said. "Bye, Charlie."

"Say goodbye, Charlie," Daddy said.

"Yeah, bye," I said quickly. "Can you turn the t.v. back on now?"

"Geez, I think someone needs a nap today!" Uncle Sam said, looking at Daddy.

"Well it's not me!" I said stubbornly, "I want to watch the whole Doctor Sexy marathon until it's over!"

"Is that even an appropriate show for her, Dean?" Uncle Sam asked.

"She used to watch it with her mom, she knows all about it," Daddy told him with a shrug, "Not letting her watch it is like closing the barn door after the horse is gone."

Uncle Sam shook his head. "Let me show you the textbook-" he started to say to me.

"Uncle Saaaaamm, I can't concentrate on that," I whined. "Can't we look at that stuff when I'm not feeling all- all prickly?"

He sighed. "All right, fine. We'll look at it later. But I'm not going to put it off for too long, school starts in a couple of weeks and I want to be with their schedule as much as possible."

"Okayokay," I said. "T.v., please!"

Daddy turned the t.v. back on for me. He and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John walked over near the door and started to talk in low voices. Every once in a while, one of them would glance at me. I didn't care if they were talking about me, I just wanted to watch my show!


	38. Chapter 38

“All right, can you sit up, Charlie?” Imani said. She reached down and took my hands, and pulled me up to a sitting position. When our hands touched, I saw an older African-American woman in a hospital bed, with her eyes closed, and I blurted, “It doesn't matter how much you sit with her, she's still going to die.”

Imani stopped what she was doing and stood still for a moment. 

“She left you everything anyway because you're her favorite,” I said.

Imani looked at me then, and I could see tears in her eyes. “Do you have The Sight?” she asked me in a low voice. 

I heard the door open, and Daddy's voice called, “Where's my girl?” 

I had started to cry without realizing it. “I'm sorry,” I said to her, “I don't- I mean, I--”

Daddy hurried over. “What's wrong? What happened? Why is Charlie crying?” he asked in a concerned voice.

I looked at him. “I held her hands, and I saw--”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Daddy said, and he hugged me. Then he pulled back and looked at Imani. “She didn't do it on purpose, she just—knows things sometimes, when she touches people--”

“I'm not offended,” Imani said, straightening up. “I come from a long line of people with Gifts. I didn't know she had The Sight, and it surprised me.” 

“Imani, we've touched a lot, how come I never got anything from you before?” I asked her. She put her hands all over me when she was massageing me and exercising me. 

“Well, I'm sensitive too, so I put up a wall, just so I don't take on other people's...stuff,” she explained. “But right now, I'm tired, and my defenses are down today. My Nana is in hospice, in between this world and the next, and it's hard to see her that way,” she looked at me. “That's who you saw.”

“I'm sorry,” I whispered. 

She shrugged. “Death is a part of life,” she said. “Thank you for telling me about her.” 

“O-okay,” I said. Having people thank me for telling them what I knew was a new experience, and I wasn't sure how to handle it. I had gotten in trouble so much in the past about it that I automatically expected anger and scolding.

She brought the wheelchair over and put the locks on the wheels. “All right, let's get you set,” she said. She walked over to a cabinet and took out a plastic bin, and brought it over to me. “What do you want today?” 

I looked at all the candy in the bin, and chose a lollipop. “Thank you,” I said. Daddy helped me off of the table and then sit in the wheelchair, and then he buckled the straps around my waist and torso. 

“We'll see you in a couple of days,” he told her. 

“Bye, thanks,” I said to her. She waved, and put her hand on the counter, watching us go to the door. 

“How was it today?” Daddy asked as he pushed me back to the room. “You tired?” 

“Yeah,” I said. 

“You want your lollipop after your nap?”

“Yeah,” I yawned. He pushed the door open and wheeled me over to the bed. “Need to go to the bathroom?”

“Uh, no, I went during PT,” I said. He unbuckled me and then lifted me onto the bed, taking the lollipop out of my hand and putting it in his shirt pocket. Then he tucked me in.

“Can I have the t.v. on?” I asked him.

“No, it'll distract you. Remember the doctor said that sleep is helping you heal, so you need to take good naps with no distractions.” 

“O—kaaay,” I said. I reached for my Hello Kitty and MaryBear and pulled them next to me, and closed my eyes. 

 

 

I don't know how many days it had been since I'd started getting the prickling in my hands, but by now I had gotten the feeling back in most of my body. I could move almost everything, even though some of my movements were jerky and I wasn't strong enough to hold things for very long.

My feet and lower legs didn't have much feeling still, and I kinda had trouble staying upright. But Imani had said that that was partly because of the muscles in my back and stomach getting weak from laying in bed. Every other day I got taken out of my bed to go to physical therapy now, and I had to do exercises with little weights and things like sit-ups and stretches. I had to be strapped in to the wheelchair so that I didn't fall over because my muscles were still weak. 

Once I was able to sit up on my own, and then move my legs and feet better, the doctor had said I could start using a walker instead of a wheelchair. If someone held my hands and walked in front of me and led me very slowly, I could walk short distances. Daddy walked me to the bathroom at least once a day. I was able to go on my own, and deal with all that, I just needed someone to help me get up and he usually carried me back to my bed. Every once in a while when I was tired I wasn't able to tell I had to go and I had had two accidents where I peed on myself, which had humiliated me, but the doctor said that that was normal. She said that I was lucky because sometimes with people who were paralyzed from accidents didn't get any function back over their bladder and bowels and had to wear a diaper. That would have been really embarrassing if I had to do that. 

When I had been getting the feeling back, it had been hard to deal with all the prickly pins-and-needles feelings. I had not had a good night's sleep in all this time, and was so tired when I came back from PT that I took a nap. The lack of sleep at night and the naps during the day and the exhaustion I felt after exercising all combined to make me cranky and emotional, and sometimes my mood would go from annoyed to weepy in a couple of seconds. 

 

 

I woke up hearing low voices talking, and opened my eyes. Uncle Sam and Daddy were standing near the door, deep in conversation. I grabbed onto the bed railing and turned my body towards them, and Daddy saw the movement. “Hey, baby girl,” he said, coming over to me with a smile, “How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” I said, “Can I have my lollipop?” I picked up the remote and turned on the t.v., finding the cooking channel to see if one of the contest shows that I liked was on. 

Daddy grinned at me. “Well, okay, little miss one-track-mind-”

“Wait,” Uncle Sam had come over to stand next to Daddy. “I have something to show you, Charlie.”

He had been trying to get me interested in home-schooling, but it was too hard for me to hold the books, and I couldn't turn the pages. I got frustrated very easily these days, and I had accidentally ripped a couple of pages when my hand jerked, and then cried about it for a long time.

He showed me a tablet and put it in my lap. “I was able to find an online home-schooling program, and this tablet has the option of making the keys big, so you shouldn't have problems using the keyboard. And it will help the fine-motor function in your hands too, I checked with Imani.”

Daddy looked at Uncle Sam. “You...checked with Imani?” he asked, with a slow smile coming to his lips.

Uncle Sam cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he looked down, and it seemed like his face got a little bit red.

Daddy punched Uncle Sam's shoulder. “Sam, you dog! What'd she say?” he grinned.

“Dean...” Uncle Sam said.

“No, really, I wanna know. Was it a yes?”

“No, she said that she doesn't...fraternize with families of patients,” Uncle Sam glanced at me.

“Well, you'll just have to ask her again when Charlie's out of here,” Daddy said confidently.

“Ask who what?” I asked, looking back and forth at them. “What are you talking about?”

“Never mind,” Uncle Sam said, pressing the on button on the tablet. “Look-”

“So I can use the tablet for my homeschooling stuff?” I asked. “Are there any games on here?” 

Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy. “Yes, I downloaded a couple of games. But they're for after you get your work done, not just for any old time, understand? And getting to play games is a priviledge, and it can be taken away if you don't behave or do your work.”

“Geez, Sam, way to put a wet blanket on things,” Daddy said.

“I want her to know the rules going into it, so she's not surprised later,” Uncle Sam said. “I expect her to do the work, and to listen to me and do what I tell her. I'm not going to let her slack off on this, this is her education.”

“I know, I know,” Daddy said. “Just be aware that she works hard in PT too, the poor kid needs a break sometimes!”

“And she'll get a break,” Uncle Sam said. “After she's done her school work.” 

Daddy rolled his eyes and then winked at me. “Stick with me, kiddo, and I'll let you have all the breaks you want.”

“Dean, I don't want you to undermine what I'm--”  
Daddy interrupted Uncle Sam. “Sam, chill out, okay man? I'm joking around. I just want to make sure that my baby girl gets some down time.” 

“Oh,” Uncle Sam said, opening his messenger bag. “I also charged the Kindle and put a couple of your books on here, the most recent Warrior Cats books, so you'd have something to read.” He handed the Kindle to me, but it looked different. It had a cloth cover on it that had Hello Kitty on it!

I looked up at him and gave him a big smile. “Thanks, Uncle Sam!” I said happily. 

“And...” he pulled something else of out his bag with a flourish. “It's a matching cover for the tablet!” He grinned at me and his dimples showed. 

“Wow, thanks!” I said, holding my arms up to him. He leaned down and hugged me, chuckling a little. 

“You're gonna have Hello Kitty everything one of these days,” Daddy told me. 

“I wouldn't mind!” I said, rubbing my hand across the cover. The Kindle cover was pink and had Hello Kitty in a pink dress, holding a book. The tablet cover was red and blue and had Hello Kitty wearing red and blue overalls, with a red bird on her paw and a blue bird on her shoulder. 

“I'm also figuring out how to fit the Warrior Cats books into the curriculum so that you'll have something enjoyable to read,” Uncle Sam told me. 

“What's cur- ik-you-lum?” I asked slowly. 

“The subjects you're going to be studying,” he explained. He leaned over and tapped the tablet, and a screen came up with a list on it. “Look, I've downloaded the course work for Language Arts, Math, Science--”

“Uhhh, Uncle Sam, I, uh--I-- oh NO!” I burst into tears, realizing what the warm sensation on my legs was. 

I covered my face with my hands and heard Daddy asking, “What? What's wrong? Charlie, are you in pain?” I felt his hands on my wrists, trying to pull my hands away from my face.

“I—I peed on myself again!” I wailed.

“All right, shh,” Daddy soothed. “It's all right, let's get you cleaned up.” He leaned down and picked me up in his arms, carrying me to the bathroom. There was a square tub/shower stall in the corner.

“Daddy, you'll get wet!” I protested. 

“It's okay, baby,” he said. He set me down in the tub and started to take my clothes off, and called over his shoulder, “Sammy, can you grab a nurse and ask for some fresh towels?” 

“On it,” Uncle Sam called back. 

Daddy started the water and looked at me as the water level slowly rose. “Is that okay? You doing okay?” 

As long as I was leaning back, I was fine. “Yeah,” I said, sniffling. I still felt humiliated when I had an accident.

He leaned over and picked up the bottle of body wash that he had brought in for me. 

A nurse came to the door of the bathroom. “Ohh, what happened here?”

Daddy turned to her. “She didn't catch herself in time, and had an accident.” 

“Oh, dear,” she stepped into the room. “You want me to take over here, Dad?” She laid down a small stack of towels and washcloths.

Daddy shook his head. “No, I'm fine.” 

“Well, you know, I can bathe her--” the nurse had an uncomfortable look on her face. 

“It's fine, I've done this before,” Daddy insisted. 

The nurse stood there looking at him, and then me, for a long moment. “All right,” she said doubtfully, and then left the room.

“Don't know what that's about,” Daddy muttered, turning back to me. He took a washcloth and wet it, then poured some soap on it and started washing me. When he was finished, he let the water out of the tub, and then wrapped a towel around me.

“Hey, Sam,” he called. “She's done.” 

Uncle Sam came in carrying a hospital gown, and he helped me stand up while Daddy dried me off. 

“Can you step in?” Daddy asked, holding my underpants open. I was able to lift my feet and step into them instead of him having to move my legs and put my feet into the holes. 

“When can I wear real clothes again?” I asked as Daddy slid the gown onto my shoulders and tied it closed.

“Dr. Miriam said that if you keep improving the way you're going, that you can start wearing regular clothes by next week and then possibly look at getting out of here the week after,” Daddy told me. 

“I'm tired of always wearing this,” I pulled on the neck of the ugly gown. 

“I know, sweetheart,” Daddy said. “You just have to be patient. Oh wait, you are. Get it? Patient? As is, you're already a patient?” he grinned at me. 

“Dadd-yyy,” I rolled my eyes, and Uncle Sam shook his head. “Dean, that was a really bad one,” he said. 

Daddy laughed. “I thought it was pretty good myself!” he said. “Ready?” he took my hands. 

“I don't want to walk,” I whined. “I'm tired.” 

“How can you be tired, you just woke up from a nap?” Uncle Sam asked.

Daddy bent down and scooped me up into his arms. “That's okay,” he said, carrying me back out to the room. The sheets on the bed had been changed, but the bed looked different. 

“What's this?” I asked, noticing that there was a new blanket on the bed. 

“Oh, the nurse brought this in when she brought the sheets, said it had been left at the front desk,” Uncle Sam said. He handed me a little card. “This came with it.”

I looked down at the blanket- it was a soft fleece blanket with little Hello Kittys all over it! I opened the card. It said, “Hopefully this will make your room a little bit more cheerful, Love, Ben and Lisa.” 

I looked up at Daddy. “It's from Ben and Lisa!” I said excitedly. 

“That was nice of them,” Daddy said with a smile. “Hey, did you get a weird vibe from that nurse that was in here before?” he asked Uncle Sam.

“Oh, yeah,” Uncle Sam agreed. “She kinda...hinted...that she thinks it's 'inappropriate' for us to be bathing Charlie and all that.”

“Oh for crap's sake, she's eight years old!” Daddy said with annoyance. “What the hell is wrong with people?” 

Uncle Sam shook his head. “I don't know, Dean.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Nothing, Charlie, don't worry about it,” Daddy said.

“Stop telling me that!” I flared. “How come you keep saying that?”

“Because, little girl, you don't need to know about every little thing that we talk about,” Daddy said to me. 

I folded my arms and frowned at him, and he chuckled. “Don't make that pouty face at me.” 

“I'm not pouting!” I grumped. 

“Yeah, you are, and stop it,” Daddy said, and pulled a strand of my hair. 

There was a knock on the door and a nurse brought in my dinner tray. She set it down on the little tray table. “Here you go,” she said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Daddy said to her. She left, and he looked at me. “Dr. Miriam also said that you might be able to go down to the cafeteria for meals once you're walking better, too, as exercise.” 

“Okay!” I said, smiling at him.

“Don't get too excited, cafeteria food isn't that great,” Uncle Sam told me. 

Daddy took the top off and looked at the plate. “Hmm, meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad and Jell-o. That meatloaf looks kinda good. See if they have that at the cafeteria for me, Sam.”

“All right,” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy picked up the fork and began to cut the meatloaf into little pieces. 

“Shouldn't you be letting her do that?” Uncle Sam asked him.

“Oh, yeah,” Daddy stopped, and looked at me. “You want to try?”

“You cut it up for me, I want to feed myself,” I told him. 

 

Ten minutes later, I was ready to cry with anger. Uncle Sam was showing Daddy how to access stuff on the tablet, so they weren't really paying attention to me, which was okay with me. I felt embarrassed when they watched me try to feed myself. 

I had dropped two pieces of meatloaf already, and one of them had gotten gravy on my new blanket, which had annoyed me. Then the lettuce wouldn't stay on the fork. I was going to feed myself, though, I had to do it for myself-- I wasn't a baby anymore!

I pushed the spoon into the mashed potatoes and then tried to bring it up to my mouth; my hand shook so hard that I couldn't get it close to my face and a blob of potatoes fell onto the bed. 

“Dammit to all hell,” I gritted out under my breath.

“What did you just say?” Uncle Sam asked. Both he and Daddy turned their heads towards me.

“I—I can't do it!” I yelled, lifting my hand up and throwing the spoon angrily. It felt good to throw something and express the frustration that I'd had inside all this time. 

The spoon whizzed right by Uncle Sam's head and a small clump of potato that had been left on the spoon fell onto his shoulder. He and Daddy were looking at me with identical shocked looks on their faces.

“Charlotte Anne!” both Daddy and Uncle Sam said at the exact same moment, and they hurried over to my bedside.

“You do not throw things like that!” Daddy said, at the same time Uncle Sam was saying, “No throwing things, and watch your language!” 

I stared up at them, and then I burst into tears. “It's not faaaaaaaiiirr!” I wailed, covering my face with my hands. 

I felt the bed give as someone sat down. “What's not?” Daddy asked gently.

“I can't—I can't do anything!” My mood was ruined now, and I felt like giving up. I leaned into Daddy's chest.

“Sweetheart, you have to give yourself time. You haven't been using your muscles and you have to-- to kind of re-train them to get used to doing what they did before,” he explained. I felt his hands on my wrists, pulling my hands away from my face. He tilted my head up so that I was looking in his eyes. 

“Give yourself a break,” he said. “You're not going to be back to normal right away.” He picked up a napkin and wiped my face off, and then stood up.

Uncle Sam had walked across the room and picked up the spoon. He came out of the bathroom, drying it off with a paper towel, and put in back on the tray.   
“Maybe you should let your Dad feed you for now, honey,” he said. 

I glared at him, getting angry all over again, and grabbed the spoon. “Maybe you should shut up,” I snapped. 

He gaped at me. “What did you just say to me?” he looked at Daddy. “Dean? Are you hearing this?” 

Daddy looked uncomfortable. “Charlie--” he said.

Uncle Sam leaned over and picked up the remote off the bed next to me. He pressed a button and turned off the t.v. “No t.v. for the rest of the evening,” he said.   
“Hey!” I complained. “You can't do that!” 

“I just did,” Uncle Sam said in a hard voice. “What do you have to say to me, young lady?”

“I—I--” I glared up at him. “You're mean! Gimme the remote!” I tried to pull myself forward using the bed railing. 

Uncle Sam crossed his arms over his chest. “I don't know what's going on with you, young--”

“This isn't fair!” I yelled. “I—I hate this, I couldn't move at all, and now I can't hold on to anything and my hands go all over the place--” I clenched my fists and drummed them on the bed next to me. I tried to kick my feet too but I could barely move my legs, which made me feel more upset.

“Charlie--” Daddy was saying, holding his hands up. 

Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips. “You need to apolog--”

My fist hit the edge of the tray table and I wasn't expecting it, and a wave of pain shot up my arm from my hand. “OWW!” I screamed, and burst into tears. The dishes clattered against each other when my hand hit the table, and Daddy leaned forward and caught the dish of Jell-o that almost fell off.

I grabbed my hurting hand with my other hand and held them to my chest. Daddy sat down again and then took me in his arms, rubbing the back of my head and my back.

“Shh,” he said, “It's okay, you're going to be okay. I know it's frustrating, sweetheart,” He pulled back and took my hands. “Let me see, what did you do?”

I looked up at him through my tears. “It hurts a lot, Daddy,” I said pitifully. He held my hand up and kissed it, and then hugged me again. “You've got to be careful, baby.”

“Dean-” Uncle Sam said, looking down at us. 

“Sam, back off, would you? She just got hurt, and she's having a rough time!” Daddy snapped at him. “Why don't you let me feed you now, hmm?” he asked gently.

“No, I'm not hungry any more,” I sniffled. “I just want-- just leave me alone.” 

“You sure?” Daddy leaned down and looked at my face.

“Yes!” I snapped, pulling my hands away from him. I turned my head to the side, away from him, and stared at the wall. 

After a moment, he sighed, and then got up. He moved the tray table away from the bed, and then he and Uncle Sam walked over near the door and began to talk in low voices again. 

Uncle Sam left the room, and Daddy walked over to the cot and sat down, putting his head in his hands. He sighed heavily, and I felt bad for him. He had been in this room with me pretty much the whole time I had been at the hospital, and he had only just started to leave me when I went to the physical therapy room. 

“Daddy--” I said to him, and he raised his head and looked at me. His eyes were tired and he had wrinkles in his forehead. I held my arms out to him, and he got up and came over to me. Then he leaned down, picking me up and putting me on his lap, and snuggled me in his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and leaned my head on his chest again. 

“We'll get there, baby girl,” he said quietly. “We'll figure this all out.”


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Discussion and brief description of physical abuse.   
> *************

The Physical Therapy room was full of people today, and loud. Daddy wheeled me over to the corner where we usually met Imani. There were two young women standing there. One of them had blonde hair in a braid. “Hi, is this Charlotte? I mean, Charlie?”

“Yes,” Daddy said. “and you are--”

“I'm Kristin,” she said, “And this is Candy, she's new here, and going to be shadowing me today.” Candy had short curly brown hair. 

“Where's Imani?” I asked. 

Kristin looked uncomfortable. “She's off for a couple of days, for a family thing.”

“Did her Grandmother pass?” I asked, looking at her. 

Kristin frowned slightly. “Uh, yeah, she did, so Imani's got to deal with the funeral stuff and all that.” 

She glanced down at the clipboard she was holding. “She left me her notes, though, so I know exactly what to do with you. Ready to have some fun?”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly. Daddy walked around and locked the wheels, and then unbuckled me and helped me stand up. 

“See you in a little while,” he said, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. 

 

Things went okay for most of the session. Kristin seemed a little stiff and distant, but maybe it was just because she was new. I had been spending so much time with Imani that I felt comfortable with her and like she was a friend. 

Because it was busy in the room today with a lot of kids, it was noisy, and that was grating on my nerves after a while. I was getting tired too, and having to deal with the pain in my muscles, feeling tired, and the noise was getting to me. 

Kristin reached out to pull me up to a standing position, and all of a sudden in a rush, I saw her cringing up against a wall while a man towered over her with clenched fists. I could feel fear and sadness and pain, and I blurted loudly, “Don't take him back, he's just going to hurt you again!” 

Kristin's eyes got wide and she let go of me and stepped back. “What did you say?” she hissed.

“Don't listen to him, he's lying, he won't stop! You have to leave!” I exclaimed, feeling tears come to my eyes.   
I lost my balance and fell back, landing hard on my butt. I cried out as I hit the floor. It seemed like everyone in the room had gone silent. Kristin and Candy were staring at me.

“How did you know...what...” Kristin whispered. 

“I—I'm sorry--” I started to say, and then her face changed. “I don't know where you got this from, but you're lying!” she said in a loud, angry voice.

Candy glanced at her. “Kris--”

I held my hands up. “I—I need help getting up--” I said in a small voice. 

Kristin stepped back again. “I'm not touching you anymore!” she spat, narrowing her eyes at me. “This isn't funny, kid!” 

I started to cry. “I—I wasn't trying to be funny, I--” 

Kristin slapped the clipboard down on the counter, and the loud sound made me jump. “You know what, I'm done here. I don't have to listen to this--”

“Why do you let him hit you?” I asked her. “I don't understand--”

“SHUT UP!” she shouted at me, clenching her fists. She leaned over me, and I felt scared- was she going to hit me?

Then I heard Daddy's voice behind me. “What's going on here?” he asked, and his voice was that deeper pitch that meant he was angry.

“I don't know what the deal is with her, mister, she's crazy or something-” Kristin said.

Daddy was leaning down and picking me up off of the floor. I clutched at his flannel, wanting the fear I felt to go away. 

“Excuse me?” he said in a steely voice. “I don't know what happened earlier, but everything I just saw, you are acting very unprofessionally. She's just a little girl--”

“It wasn't me, it was her!” Kristin said loudly. 

Daddy glared at her. “I'll be reporting this to your supervisor,” he snapped. He turned to leave, sliding me onto his hip.

“Uh, she needs to be in a wheelchair--” Candy said. 

“I'll come back and get it later,” Daddy said over his shoulder. 

I looked around, and everyone was staring. Some of the adults were standing together and talking, looking at me. I buried my face in Daddy's shirt and cried as he walked back to my room. 

 

I heard Uncle Sam and Grandpa John's voices, both asking, “What happened? Is she hurt? Why is she crying?”

Daddy sat down on the bed with me and looked down at me. “Okay, tell me what happened,” he said.

“Why—why do people hit other people?” I asked, and my chest hitched. “I don't- I don't understand!” 

“Oh my God, what?” Uncle Sam came over to the bed, his face worried.

“There was a new therapist there today because Imani's grandma died, and when I touched her, I saw-- I saw--” my eyes filled with tears. “She has a boyfriend who hits her and she lets him and keeps breaking up and then getting back together! He-- he says he's sorry, but then he hits her again! He says it's her fault!” I looked up at Daddy. “She's so scared, why does she keep being with him? I don't get it! Why?” I wailed. 

Daddy pulled me close and hugged me tightly. “Charlie, I'm so sorry you had to see that, baby,” he said. “It's-- unfortunately some people are like that, and there are people who are mean and hurt other people, and the people that they hurt have a hard time leaving.”

“But why? Why? He says he loves her and then he hits her all over!” I sobbed. 

“It's...complicated, sweetheart. And it's not something that you should have had to deal with. I'm so sorry.” Daddy said, and I felt him rubbing my back. “Hey Sam, would you mind walking to the nurse's station and getting the number of the PT boss? I need to let them know what happened.”

“Sure, but what can they do about Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Oh, it's not about Charlie. This girl was out of line- she told Charlie to shut up, and then she called her crazy! When I got there, Charlie was on the floor, and they weren't helping her up!”

“She- she let go of me, and I fell down, and she said she wasn't going to touch me again,” I told him.

“Dammit,” I heard Grandpa John mutter. “Get the supervisor down here ASAP, Dean, this is not good. If they give you any grief, I'll talk to them.” 

“I'll be right back,” Uncle Sam said, and I heard his footsteps leave the room. 

“You want me to find something to watch on t.v.?” Daddy started to shift me off of his lap, and I grabbed his shirt. “No, Daddy, I want to be with you!” I cried out. 

“All right, shh,” he said soothingly. “Dad, grab the remote, would you?” Daddy settled back on the bed with me on his lap, and turned on the t.v. “Look, here's an episode of Doctor Sexy,” he told me.

“I don't care,” I mumbled, leaning on him and closing my eyes. It felt like I couldn't let go of all those bad feelings I had felt when I had touched Kristin.

 

In a few minutes, I heard the door of the room open. 

“So, what happened today?” I heard Dr. Miriam ask in her low voice. 

Daddy patted my back. “Sit up, baby, you need to talk to them.” he said. He turned the t.v. off. 

“Hi, I'm Dr. Norrell,” a tall woman said. She stepped forward and shook Daddy's hand. “I'm the supervisor of the Physical Therapy Unit.” 

“Well,” Daddy started, “You see, Charlie--”

“I explained it to them, Dean. I told them that Charlie knows things when she touches people.” Uncle Sam told him. 

Daddy exhaled. “Okay. Well, when I went in to pick her up today, she was on the floor, and--”

“Who was on the floor?” Dr. Norrell said. 

“Charlie was,” Daddy said. 

“Why don't we let Charlie tell us what happened,” Dr. Miriam said smoothly. 

I felt Daddy's hand on my back. “You feel up to that?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah,” I said. I told them what had happened, what I had seen, and everything that Kristin had said to me. It was hard to talk because I was still crying, and I couldn't stop. I felt ashamed, like I had when I was little and had gotten yelled at for the things I'd said. By the time I was finished, Uncle Sam and Grandpa John looked angry. Dr. Miriam had a funny look on her face, like she was trying to hide something. Dr. Norrell's face stayed the way it was. 

“Well, I'm sorry that she experienced this,” Dr. Norrell said. “Rest assured that I'll be talking to those who were involved and getting to the bottom of things.”

“Are you gonna-- will you help her get away from that guy?” I asked timidly. 

“We will provide counseling and assistance, yes,” Dr. Norrell told me. “I apologize for her unprofessionalism, and I'll make sure that she apologizes too.”

“You don't have to do that,” I said. “She was- she was upset.”

“She was also nasty to you, Charlie,” Daddy said. “She didn't have to treat you the way that she did.”

I started to cry again. “But-- but I—I shouldn't have said anything--”

“Charlie, it's not your fault,” Uncle Sam said gently. “We told you that you aren't going to get into trouble any more, remember?” 

I looked up him. “I don't like this!” I said. “I don't want to be like this any more!” I started to cry harder.

I saw Uncle Sam and Grandpa John glance at each other. Grandpa John pulled his phone out of his pocket and tried to dial it one handed, and then it fell out of his hand onto the bed. “Dammit,” he muttered. “Can't get used to this.” The day before he had gone with Uncle Sam for a check-up, and they had given him a shorter cast on his arm.

Uncle Sam picked up the phone and handed it to him.

“I'm going to call Missouri,” Grandpa John said. “See what she has to say about this.” He dialed the phone, and then left the room. 

“Charlie, you need to try and relax,” Dr. Miriam said. “You're getting more upset.” 

“I—I can't,” I exclaimed, feeling my breathing get shallow. “I can't get the feelings out of my head!” I couldn't stop crying, and my chest and throat started to hurt. 

“Charlie, Charlie, calm down,” Daddy was saying to me. 

“Deep breaths,” I heard Uncle Sam's voice. “Come on, deep breaths.” 

I couldn't, though, and it seemed like the room was getting darker around the edges of my vision. I had broken out in a sweat and my ears were ringing. 

I heard Dr. Miriam say loudly, “Charlie—” and I turned my head to look at her. Someone took my wrist, and then I saw a needle. I screamed and tried to jerk my arm away, and then I felt a pinch in my upper arm. All of a sudden, I got sleepy, and before I knew it, my eyes were closing. 

 

I woke up slowly. I opened my eyes- the lights in the room were dimmed. Grandpa John was watching a baseball game with the sound on low, and Uncle Sam had his laptop open in his lap. Daddy came out of the bathroom and saw that my eyes were open.

“How ya doing, sweetheart?” he asked as he came over to the bed.He started to raise the head. “It's past dinnertime, but Uncle Sam went out and got some food for us. You want some chicken nuggets?”

“Not hungry,” I said groggily. “M' thirsty.” 

He leaned over and picked up a cup. “Here's some lemonade,” he handed it to me. I took several swallows and put the cup on the tray table.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came over to the bedside too. 

“Stop looking at me,” I grumbled. 

“We're just worried about you,” Uncle Sam said. “There's an extra cheeseburger too, if you want--”

“I said I'm not hungry!” I snapped. 

Uncle Sam stepped forward and took my chin in his hand, making me look up at him. “Young lady, you are not going to speak to me like that any more, do you understand?” his voice was deep and serious. 

“Sam-” Daddy started to say. 

“Dean, she's been rude to me for the past couple of days, and I'm not putting up with it any longer,” Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy and then looked down at me. “I asked you a question,” he said sternly. 

I frowned at him. “Yes, I understand!” I said sulkily. I tried to pull my chin out of his grasp, but he wouldn't let me go. 

“You need to watch it with the sass--”

“Uncle Saaaam, let goooo,” I whined. 

“Sam, back off!” Daddy growled. “You're hurting her!” 

Uncle Sam let go of me. “I'm not hur--”

“I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to cool it!” Daddy snapped at him. “You're being a real hardass with her, and--”

“And you're letting everything go! She still needs--”

“Don't you tell me what she needs, she's my daughter, and I know what she needs!” Daddy yelled, glaring at Uncle Sam. He had stepped up to Uncle Sam and gotten in his face. 

Grandpa John stepped between them, putting his hands on each of their chests. “All right, Sam, take a walk. Go on, now, go get yourself a cup of caffeine. I'll be down in a minute.” 

Uncle Sam's jaw twitched. “I don't have to listen to your bullsh--”

“That's right, you don't. You heard the man, take a walk,” Daddy said meanly. 

“Dean, stand down,” Grandpa John said in a hard voice.

Uncle Sam walked out of the room, yanking the door open hard. Daddy sighed and rubbed his hand across his face. 

“Dean, you have to remember, we all want what's best for Charlie,” Grandpa John said in a quiet voice. 

“Well, I think some of us have a different idea of what's best!” Daddy retorted. 

Grandpa John put his hand on Daddy's shoulder. “Charlie's a strong girl, she'll get through this,” he said. “She's doing great, and we all need to remember that even though she's been through a lot, she's still the same little girl she was, and she still needs the same rules and boundaries.” 

Daddy glanced at him. “I disagree,” he said. “She's not the same little girl, and right now she needs more understanding and- and compassion.”

“Okay, yeah, I can see that,” Grandpa John nodded. “But you still need to hold her to a standard of behavior--”

“Jesus, you too? Back off, Dad, and don't tell me how to parent my kid!” Daddy snapped. He jerked away from Grandpa John, who sighed. “All right, Dean,” he said, “Let's just see how this goes.” He turned and walked out of the room.

Daddy rubbed his hand over his face again, and I started to cry. He sat down on the bed. “Baby, don't cry,” he said kindly, “it's not your fault.”

“Yes it is, I'm bad! I just- I get grumpy and I can't, I can't help it!” I wailed. 

He pulled me into a hug. “No, you are not bad,” he said firmly, “ this is hard for you, give it some time.” 

We sat together and snuggled for a while, watching a cooking show.

“Why did Dr. Miriam give me a shot?” I asked him.

“She had to give you something to help you calm down,” Daddy told me. “You were close to having a panic attack.”

“Is that why I feel all fuzzy-headed now?” 

“Yeah, probably,” His phone buzzed, and he shifted me, and then pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. He sighed. “They went back to the hotel.” he said grimly. 

Eventually, I fell asleep on Daddy's lap, with the tv still going. 

 

 

I was finishing up breakfast when the door opened, and Grandpa John walked in, followed by Uncle Sam. Daddy stood up slowly and everyone looked at each other for a long moment. 

“Uncle Sam, I'm sorry I've been mean,” I said, and I started to cry. He walked over to the bed and leaned down to hug me. I put my arms around him. “I'm sorry,” I sniffled.

“Thank you for apologizing, Charlie,” he said. “I know you get frustrated with things, you just need to remember not to take it out on other people.” 

“Okay, Uncle Sam,” I agreed. 

“You're a good girl,” he murmured, and kissed my cheek. 

He stood up and looked at Daddy. “We good?” he asked, and Daddy said, “Yeah, we're good,” gruffly. They hugged each other. 

Grandpa John set my pink duffle on the bed. “Did you tell her, Dean?” he asked. 

“No,” Daddy said.

I looked at him. “Tell me what? Why do you have my bag?” 

“Dr. Miriam gave us permission to take you outside today, Lisa and Ben are going to come visit, and we're going to have a picnic lunch outside on the hospital grounds.” Daddy told me.

“Yaay!” I clapped my hands. 

“And since you're going to go outside, you need to get dressed in regular clothes,” Uncle Sam unzipped the duffle. “So I brought some of your clothes for you.” He picked the bag up and set it on my lap. I rooted through it and found a Hello Kitty shirt.

“Why don't you grab a pair of shorts with elastic, it'll be easier for you to deal with in the bathroom,” Daddy said.

“Good idea,” Uncle Sam said. I found a pair of pink shorts that went with the shirt. Uncle Sam helped me to get dressed, and Grandpa John moved the duffle over to the wardrobe that was in the corner of the room. 

While we waited, Uncle Sam showed me how to use the tablet and how to access the home-schooling folders. Daddy's phone buzzed, and he looked at it.   
“We ready? Lisa said they're in the lobby.” 

I went to the bathroom, and then Daddy helped me into the wheelchair. We took the elevator down to the lobby to meet them. Lisa had a couple of tote bags, and Ben had a little Nerf football he was tossing in the air. Uncle Sam took two of the bags from her, and we walked out to the patio and then followed a path over to an area where there was a playground and some picnic tables. Lisa put the bags on a table and started to unpack them. Daddy parked me a few feet away, and Ben came over to me. “Hey, Charlie, want to play catch?” he asked.

“Okay,” I said. He stepped a few feet back and tossed the ball to me. I raised my hands and tried to catch it, but I couldn't. I bounced out of my arms and off to the side. 

“That's okay,” Ben ran over and picked up the ball. “Try again.” 

He tossed the ball more gently, and I was able to catch it this time. 

“Good job!” he said enthusiastically. I threw the ball back to him, but I was better at catching it. He stepped back a couple of steps and threw it a little harder. I tried to throw it back hard too. It went off to the right and he laughed. “What was that?” he joked. “I'm over here, ya know!” He ran and got it and then threw it to me, stepping back again.

“Oof!” I said as I reached up and caught it. “Hey look!” I raised the ball up. “I caught it out of the air!” 

Ben laughed. 

Daddy came over to us. “Hey, Ben, not so hard.” 

“Dean, she's okay, I've been watching them,” Grandpa John said. “Ben's doing a good job tossing it to her, just right,” he smiled at Ben. 

“I don't want her to get hurt,” Daddy put his hand on my shoulder. 

“I won't, Daddy,” I said, “This is fun.” 

“I won't let her get hurt, Dean,” Ben said. “Mom talked to me about being careful.” 

“All right, who wants to eat?” Lisa called. She had put all the food out on the table. Daddy grabbed the wheelchair and pushed me over to the end of the table.   
“What do you want?” he asked me. He made me a sandwich and put it on a plate with potato chips and carrot sticks. “You got this?” he asked, setting the plate on my lap.

“Yes, Daddy,” I said, rolling my eyes. It was a lot easier for me to feed myself by holding whatever I was eating instead of using a utensil.

“Playing catch is probably good for Charlie's muscles,” Uncle Sam said. “That was a great idea to bring your ball, Ben.”

“He always has some kind of ball with him,” Lisa chuckled, “He wanted to bring a baseball, but I was worried that would be too hard.” 

“We play catch with a big beach ball in PT sometimes,” I said. “Imani said it's for gross motor skills. Why are they gross? It's not like you can see the muscles looking yucky or anything.”

Everyone chuckled. 

“Gross also means large,” Uncle Sam explained. “Catching and throwing a ball exercises the larger muscles in your arms.” 

“Sam is Mr. Dictionary,” Daddy told Lisa. “Even when we don't want to know something, he's got to tell us.”

“Nothing wrong with sharing knowledge,” Uncle Sam said. 

After we ate, Daddy and Uncle Sam joined Ben and me playing catch again, and then Daddy and Uncle Sam grabbed the ball and ran away with it, throwing it really high in the air and far away, and then Daddy tackled Uncle Sam, which made us laugh. Then Daddy unbuckled me and helped me out of the chair, and we walked over to the swings. I sat on a swing, holding tightly to the chains, and Daddy pushed me gently. Sitting up like that for so long made my stomach muscles hurt, though, so I told him I wanted to stop. 

“We should probably go back to the room now, don't want to tire Charlie out too much,” Daddy said as he buckled me back into the wheelchair.

“Can I push her?” Ben asked, looking up at Daddy.

Daddy paused. “Uhh, okay,” he said uncertainly.

Ben took the handles of the wheelchair and started to push me on the paved path, ahead of everyone else. “Hey, wanna go fast?” he leaned down over my shoulder. “I'll run and push you and we can see how fast we can go.”

I glanced back at him. “Okay,” I agreed.

He grunted a little as he pushed me harder, and the wheelchair started to go faster. It was kinda fun, and I felt a breeze blowing my hair back from my face.   
Ben said, “Go, Speed Racer, go!” and laughed, and I laughed with him.

“Ben!” I heard someone call from behind us. “Slow down!” 

“Speeeeed Racerrrrrrr!” Ben yelled, and I laughed again as we went faster. 

“STOP!” I heard a bellow from behind us, and then all of a sudden, Daddy and Uncle Sam were standing in front of us, their faces red and their chests heaving.

“Benjamin Isaac Braeden!” Lisa scolded as she hurried up to us. “What were you doing?” she put her hands on her hips. “Did you hear Dean calling you?”

“Uh, we were just...having fun,” Ben said slowly, staring at the ground and toeing a rock that was on the ground with the tip of his shoe. 

“What did I tell you before we came here? Huh?” Lisa asked in a stern voice.

Ben glanced up at her, then at me, then looked down again. “To, uh, be careful and gentle with Charlie.” 

“And do you think that racing down the sidewalk with her in a wheelchair is being careful?” 

“Uh...I guess not,” Ben gave a little half-shrug.

“You guess not. Well, I guess that you and I are going to have to have a discussion when we get home about you listening and obeying,” Lisa gave him a look.  
Ben's face got red, and he gulped. 

“What do you have to say for yourself?” she asked. 

“It's okay, Lisa, I didn't get hurt,” I said. 

“Not the point, Charlie,” Daddy said sternly. “Did you tell him to stop?”

“Uh...no,” I said.

“I heard you laughing,” Uncle Sam said, “Did he tell you he was going to do that?”

“Um, yeah,” I looked down at my hands in my lap.

“And you just went along with it?” Daddy asked.

“Uh...yeah,” I whispered. 

“You didn't think to tell him not to push you fast, because it's not safe?” Daddy sounded annoyed now.

“But-- I'm strapped in, I won't fall out, and it was okay! How could I get hurt?” 

Daddy sighed angrily. “There's lots of ways! You could have fallen over, Ben could have tripped and fallen, he could have fallen and knocked into you and you both fall, someone else could have gotten in the way--”

“Ben, what do you say?” Lisa prompted. 

“Uh, I'm sorry,” Ben said. “I'm sorry that I wasn't careful with Charlie, an' that I didn't listen to you, Dean.” He stared at the ground again.

“You need to be more mindful about being careful too, little miss,” Uncle Sam said to me. 

“Uh, okay, Uncle Sam,” I said. 

Daddy walked around behind me. “I'll push her the rest of the way,” he said. Lisa and Uncle Sam had to walk back and get the bags of food because they had just dropped everything and run to us when Ben started to push me fast. 

In the lobby, they said goodbye to us. Lisa leaned down to hug me, and Ben hugged Daddy's waist. Then Ben leaned down to hug me, and as he stood up, he whispered, “Go, Speed Racer,” in my ear. I stifled a giggle, and grinned up at him. He grinned back at me.

“I'm going to go find some coffee, I'll meet you in the room,” Grandpa John told us.

 

 

“All right, time for you to take a nap,” Daddy said to me when we got back. He was helping me walk from the bathroom to the bed.

“But I'm not tired,” I said. “I want to watch t.v.”

“Nope, nap in the afternoon, remember?” 

I folded my arms in front of me, getting annoyed. “I didn't even do anything today except go on a picnic!” 

“You tossed a ball around, that's exercise, and you got up and walked a bit,” Uncle Sam said. 

Anger surged in me. “I'm not gonna take a freakin' nap!” I yelled. 

“Charlotte Anne,” Daddy said sternly, “Watch your language.”

“Freakin' is not a cuss, so I can say it!” I said stubbornly. 

“It's close enough, young lady, so I suggest you not say it, unless you want to be in trouble,” Uncle Sam frowned at me. 

“It's not a cuss,” I insisted. “Damn and hell are cusswords-”

“CHARLOTTE ANNE!” Both Daddy and Uncle Sam yelled at the same time.

Daddy leaned down to me. “You really want to get up close and personal with a bar of soap?” he asked tightly. “Because that is right where you're headed.” 

“With the way she's been acting recently, I think it might be good for her to have her mouth washed out, maybe you can wash some of the sass out too,” Uncle Sam said, putting his hands on his hips. 

I looked at him and then at Daddy, and my stomach twisted nervously. “You- you can't--” 

“Now you're telling us what we can and can't do?” Uncle Sam crossed his arms over his chest like Daddy did when he got angry. 

I burst into tears. “It's not faaaaair!” I wailed. “I don't want to take a nap like a baby, I feel like a baby all the time!” 

“What do you mean?” Daddy asked, sitting down on the bed.

“You've had to feed me and, and wash me like I'm a baby, and carry me around, and I can't sit up like a little baby, or walk good, and now I have to take naps!” 

“Well, remember, you're getting over an illness, sweetheart,” Daddy said, “The doctor said the naps are helping you heal too. Once you're better, you won't have to take them any more.” 

“Dean--” Uncle Sam said. We both looked at him, and he raised his eyebrows. 

“She's upset, Sam,” Daddy rubbed my back. “Didn't you get on my case once, about scolding Charlie when she was already upset about something?” 

Uncle Sam sighed, and I looked up at him again. He was watching me, shaking his head, and I dropped my eyes and leaned into Daddy's chest. I did feel tired, so I closed my eyes and rested. I fell asleep, listening to his heartbeat.


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for a shorter chapter than usual, I had just gotten over a monster 3-day migraine when I wrote it!  
> ************

Uncle Sam wheeled me into the Physical Therapy room, over to where Imani stood. She turned to us and her smile got bigger when she looked up at Uncle Sam.  
“Welcome back,” he said to her.

“I'm sorry about your Grandma,” I told her.

“Thank you,” she looked down at me. “Her passing was peaceful. I'm sorry to hear of the...trouble here.” she shifted. “Some people are very close-minded.”

When Daddy had taken me to my next physical therapy appointment, we had discovered that no one wanted to deal with me. So I didn't get any PT that day. Daddy called and complained, but nothing had been done.

Today, Daddy had to go sign paperwork for the hotel where we were going to be staying, so Uncle Sam was with me at the hospital. 

“It's okay,” I said, swallowing. I had felt guilty, because I had seen some of the other therapists talking behind their hands as Daddy had wheeled me out of the PT room. It made me feel like a freak. 

“Is it all right if I stay here, and you can show me what you're going to be doing with Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked. “I'm going to be home-schooling her, so I wanted to incorporate her exercises into our daily routine.”

“Oh, yes, her father mentioned that. You're going to be the one teaching her?” Imani smiled. “Professor Winchester, huh?” 

Uncle Sam's face got a little bit red and he smiled, showing his dimples. “Uh, not quite,” he said shyly. 

Imani went through all of my exercises and showed Uncle Sam some of the stuff we did on other days, and talked to him about the exercises for different muscle groups and everything. “I'll make a list of some places where you can get some of the materials in caase you want to get weights or anything,” she said. 

“That would be great. Thanks, Imani,” he said with another big smile.

She took out the bin of candy and held it out to me. I picked out a package of Sour Patch Kids this time. “Thank you. See you in a couple of days!” 

“See you then,” she said.

I glanced up at Uncle Sam as he wheeled me back to the room. He had a smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes. 

“Wait a second,” I said. “You...you like her!” I said, as it dawned on me. All the smiling they were doing at each other, they were acting like two people on a t.v. show when they “had feelings” for each other.

“Maybe,” he said, getting red in the face.

“Why don't you ask her out!” I said excitedly. 

“Shh,” he glanced around. “She doesn't date family members of patients.” he told me.

“Oh,” I said. I actually wasn't sure how I felt about Uncle Sam dating someone again. I wondered if she had any kids. I didn't want to have to deal with any other kids right now, there was too much risk of them ending up being like that Cole kid. Ben was being nice to me so far, but I was still a little bit hesitant about the whole thing to completely trust that he was going to stay that way. And I still felt nervous about Daddy and the potential of him liking Ben more. 

Uncle Sam locked the wheels and unbuckled me. “She said the walker should be here next time you see her,” he told me. “Hopefully that works well.” 

Imani said that I was doing so well with my exercises that I should be able to use a walker soon and maybe only when I got tired. 

“Can you carry me to the bathroom?” I asked him as I stood up.

“You don't want to try and walk yourself?” he asked.

“I just had PT, I'm tired!” I said. 

“Well...all right.” he picked me up and carried me to the bathroom, and then I walked back to my bed. I picked up the remote and turned on the t.v.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Watching t.v., duh,” I said.

“You just said you were tired. And I know that you're supposed to take a nap after PT,” he gave me a look. “So turn it off, Charlie.”

I sighed. “Come onnn, Uncle Sam, can't I watch one show?”

“No, take a nap, and then lunch when you wake up,” he said. “then I want to go over some homeschooling stuff, and then you can watch t.v.”

“That's not going to be fun at all!” I grumped. “I'm used to watching the Powerpuff Girls Power Hour in the afternoon!”

“Well, you'll catch up with it later. School starts soon, so I want to get you started as well.” He picked up the remote and turned the tv off. “Lay down, Charlie,” he said.

“Fiiiiine,” I said with a sigh.

“And watch the attitude, little miss,” he said firmly.

 

 

Daddy and Grandpa John came back while Uncle Sam and I were playing a game of Mancala on the touchpad. The homeschooling stuff he had showed me was fun, not boring like I had thought it would be. I had never played Mancala- it was a fun game, and Uncle Sam said it was a real game, and he could get one for us.   
“Daddy!” I said as they walked in. 

“How'd my baby girl do today?” he asked with a smile, coming over to hug me.

“Fine,” I said.

“Imani showed me a lot of her exercises,” Uncle Sam said. “She said Charlie's walker should be here the next time we see her. And that we should start doing some small motor skills work too, and it will help with her pencil grasp and grip strength.”

“Good,” Daddy said.

“How did it go?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Everything is all squared away,” Daddy said. “They're fine with everything, and the place has wide enough door frames.”

“What do you mean?”? I asked, looking from Daddy to Uncle Sam.

“We had to make sure we got a place with wide doors, because you may still need to use a wheelchair sometimes. We had to take that into consideration, but we found one. It's a hotel, but it's for business people who stay in one place for a long time, so it's like mini- apartments. We got one with an attached suite, so all of us can be together.” 

“Cool!” I said. I had only ever lived with my mom, and we would visit relatives, but only a couple of times a year. It was going to be different living in a place with Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John.

 

The next time I had PT, Imani had some exercises for my hands. She had a small plastic piggy bank, and she told Daddy to empty his pockets of change. I had to practice picking up the coins and putting them into the piggybank.

Then she had a small ball filled with something squishy that I had to practice squeezing, to help my “grip strength.” The last thing was a container of green putty- it was like play-dough, but firmer and thicker. There were little metal nuts mixed into it, and I had to hold the putty with one hand and get all the nuts out with the other, and then practice with the other hand. That one made my hands tired. She said that the exercises would help me be able to hold things like utensils and pencils and stuff. 

Then she brought out the walker. She said I had enough upper body strength now that I should be able to use it. I could walk short distances now, and my stomach muscles didn't get tired any more. She walked beside me back to my room, along with Daddy, at the end of my session.

Daddy pushed the door open, and I walked in. Grandpa John and Uncle Sam were in the room already. 

“Well, look at this!” Grand pa John walked over to us with a big smile. “She's walking!” 

“This is great!” Uncle Sam said, smiling at me and then at Imani. 

“Thanks you so much for all your help,” Daddy said, and his voice sounded emotional.

I felt embarrassed by all the attention. “Daddyyy, it's not that big of a deal--”

“This is big, Charlie,” Daddy said. “We didn't think-- well, we were all worried--”

“You've made a lot of great strides while you've been here, Charlie, no pun intended,” Imani said, and everyone chuckled.

“We weren't sure what was going to happen with your recovery,” Grandpa John said. “So this is an amazing day.” 

I was a lot more tired than usual after the walking, so I laid down for a nap without complaining. 

When I woke up later, I could smell food- it must be lunchtime- and hear voices talking. I opend my eyes, and Dr. Miriam was in the room talking to everyone.   
Daddy saw me when I sat up, and walked over to me. “How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Okay,” I yawned.

Dr. Miriam walked over. “Charlie, this is wonderful news today, that you're walking now. I'd like to do some testing tomorrow, and then if things continue the way they have been, you can leave be the end of the week!” 

“Leave?” I asked. “You mean, leave the hospital?”

“Yes, your father told me that he's found a place for you all to stay, so you can be nearby, and then come here for PT during the week and for testing.”

“Great!” I said happily. I couldn't wait to see the new place where we were going to be living.

 

 

“NO,” I said, “I'm not doing it!” 

“All right, sweetie, we just need to draw this blood real quick and that will be it for today,” the nurse said, in a fake-cheerful voice. 

“I said I don't want any more tests!” I snapped, crossing my arms. “It's probably going to hurt!” 

“It'll be just a quick pinch, and then it'll be over,” the nurse said encouragingly. 

“NO!” I yelled, scooting back on my bed, away from them. The nurse glanced at me, and then at Daddy and Uncle Sam. She motioned them with her head, and they walked over near the door. 

Dr. Miriam had done the test today where they had hooked wires up to my arms and legs and made the muscles move, and I had discovered that it hurt! It hadn't hurt before because I'd been paralyzed. Now they wanted to stick me with needles and take my blood out! I knew that the needles hurt too, because when they took the IV out of my arm it had hurt me. 

They walked back over to the bed and all stood there looking at me. 

“Charlie, let's get throught this, and we can go out for ice cream, okay?” Daddy said. “Dr. Miriam gave us special permission to go.”

“No!”

“Sweetheart, you need to co-operate, so that the nurse can take your blood. Otherwise she'll have to sedate you, and then we can't go out,” Daddy told me.

“I. Don't. Care,” I said stubbornly. “No needles!” 

“Honey, they need to do this for the study that Dr. Miriam is doing,” Uncle Sam explained. “Remember, she's doing a study on you and your recovery? The tests are part of it. Unfortunately it's not always going to be fun.” 

“Are you going to let me draw some blood?” the nurse asked.

“No!” I glared up at her. “Go away!”

“I'll be back,” the nurse said, turning to go.

I looked up at Daddy and Uncle Sam. “Where is she going? Is that it? She's not gonna draw my blood?” I felt relief, but I also felt a little nervous because normally they didn't give up that easy.

“No, honey, she's going to bring you medicine to help you relax,” Uncle Sam told me. 

The door opened and the nurse walked back in carrying a syringe filled with something. I realized that Uncle Sam meant she was going to give me a shot!

“Forget this!” I yelled, and I tried to scramble off the bed and run towards the door. Of course, my dumb legs wouldn't work and I tripped over my feet and fell to my knees. 

Daddy was right there picking me up. “Come on, Char- OW!” 

I had started to fight him and my flailing hand flew up and smacked him in the face. 

He grabbed my arms and turned me. “Stop this, NOW!” He said loudly, and then he smacked my butt. 

I burst into tears and kept trying to fight him. “No shots! No shots! No needles!” I screamed as he carried me to the bed. 

He put me on the bed and took hold of my arms, and Uncle Sam moved next to him and put his hands on my legs, holding me down on the bed.

I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Charlie!” Daddy said loudly. “That's not helping anything!” 

He was holding my wrist, and I started to bring my wrist up to my mouth to bite him.

He jerked his hand down, and then grabbed my chin and made me look at him. “You bite, and I will spank your ass, I don't care how upset you are,” he said in an angry voice. 

“All right, little pinch,” the nurse said, swabbing my upper arm.

“Screw this, and screw you!” I yelled at her. 

Daddy shook me a little bit. “Charlotte Anne! Watch your mouth!”

“OWWW!” I screamed as the nurse gave me a shot.

“All right, it should just take a minute, Dad,” the nurse said. 

I tried to move and struggle against Daddy and Uncle Sam holding me down. 

“Sit behind her, and hold her in a basket hold, with her arm out,” the nurse said to Daddy. He moved behind me, and pulled me so that I was sitting up with my back against his chest. He crossed my arms in front of me and held my right arm out. The nurse put the stretchy tie around my upper arm and I started to scream again. She started to swab my arm and I moved my head back and forth. I started to feel sleepy then, and then it was like I couldn't stay awake. I felt my eyes closing, even though I fought it. 

“There she goes,” the nurse said, and that was the last thing I remember.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has left kudos and reviews! I can't wait to hear what you think about Uncle Sam's school schedule that he's written up for Charlie!  
> ************

“Well, here we are!” Daddy said, as he pulled into a parking space. 

The hotel didn't look like a regular hotel, it looked more like little houses all connected together. 

Everyone got out of the car, and Daddy held his hand out for me, to help me get out. I was feeling a little bit tired, because they had had a little going- away celebration for me at the hospital with cake and ice cream, and I had done some walking around. 

Daddy unfolded the walker while I stood by the car and then I grabbed the handles and started to walk with it. He looked at me. “You doin' okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. It was important to me that I walk into the room and not have to use the wheelchair. 

Uncle Sam walked ahead of us and unlocked the door, pushing it open and walking in. Grandpa John came behind us, carrying my duffle and Hello Kitty blanket.

The room was large, bigger than any of the other hotel rooms we had been in. There was a living room area off to the right, with a large flat-screen tv on the wall, and then at the back of the room was a little kitchen, with a table and chairs. There was a low half- wall that separated the two areas. There was a door off of the kitchen, and another one nearer to the front door.

“That's the bedroom,” Uncle Sam pointed to the door off of the kitchen area. “and that's the door to our room,” he pointed to the other door. 

I walked over to the sofa and sat down. There was a long desk up against the wall, and a laptop was set up there, with my tablet and school books.

“That's where we'll do your school work,” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy brought in my wheelchair and left it by the door all folded up. 

“Come here, Charlie,” he beckoned me with his hand, and I got up and followed him to the bedroom.

There were two beds in the room and a door to a bathroom.  
“I looked for Hello Kitty sheets, but these are queen-sized beds, and they don't come in that size,” Daddy told me. “That's your bed,” he pointed. I walked over to it.

There were two Hello Kitty pillows on the bed. One was flat and in the shape of her head, and made of soft furry material. The other was square and had a picture of her wearing a pretty pink nightgown. 

“Look at the back,” Daddy said with a grin.

There was a pocket on the back of the square pillow, and inside it was a pink nightgown, just like she was wearing. There was a picture of the front of the nightgown of Hello Kitty sleeping in a bed with her teddy bear. The nightgown had ruffles at the end of the sleeves and on the hem and it was made of a shiny soft material with sparkles in the ruffles. 

“It looks like some thing a princess would wear,” I said in an awed voice.

“Well, you are a princess,” Daddy said. He scooped me up and hugged me to his chest. “You're my princess,” he kissed the side on my head.

I felt embarrassed. “Dad--dyyy-”

He put me down, and then looked at me. “Sweetheart, I'm just so glad you're out of the hospital now. When we first found you, I thought- I thought--” he swallowed, and I saw tears come to his eyes. 

He sighed, and cupped my cheek with his hand. “I'm just so, so happy that you're okay and you're up and walking.” he blinked, and smiled at me. “I knew you'd make it.” 

Grandpa John walked in with my duffle, and set it on the bed. “Lisa and Ben just got here,” he told us.

We walked back out to the living room.

Lisa and Ben were there, carrying bags and boxes. Lisa had a tray of cupcakes, and some food. There was a big box with a photo of dishes on the front.  
“I know there's dishes already here, but I thought it would be nice for you to have your own set,” she said to Daddy. “It's matched, and it's new. All the stuff in these places is usually mismatched and old.”

“Thanks, Lisa,” Daddy said, smiling at her. 

“And for you!” Ben held a gift bag out to me. I took it and sat down on the sofa. Inside it was a set of Hello Kitty barrettes and headbands, and a cloth bag made with Hello Kitty fabric.

“It's a little bag that you attach to the front of your walker,” Lisa explained. “My friend makes them, her mother is in a nursing home and she makes them for the residents there.”

“Thanks!” I said, looking up at her. “I didn't know there was Hello Kitty fabric!” 

There was also a couple of X-Men action figures at the bottom of the bag.

“Ben insisted that we get you some,” Lisa said with a chuckle.

“So we can play together,” Ben told me. 

“Cool! Thanks, Ben!” I looked up at Daddy. “Uh, is that, is that okay?” I asked hesitantly. 

“Sure, I think we can let you play with them,” Daddy said easily.

Lisa looked at him and then me. “Is there a problem with the X-Men?” she asked.

“Charlie was having some negative feelings about...herself, and the X-men comics were making it worse,” Uncle Sam explained. “Hopefully it won't be like that now.”

There was a knock on the door, and a delivery person stood there. 

“We ordered Chinese,” Daddy told us. He went to the door and paid the man, and then brought the bag over to the table and started to unload all the little white boxes.

Lisa opened one of the bags and got out paper plates and plastic utensils, and Daddy and Uncle Sam opened up all of the containers.

“What do you want, baby?” Daddy asked me. 

“I want some dumplings, and chicken with mixed vegetables,” I said. 

“We also got sweet and sour chicken, you want some of that?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yeah!” I said. He put some on my plate. “Go sit down, and I'll bring it to you,” he told me. 

“Is there any Kung Pao?” Ben asked, looking around.

Daddy looked at him. “You like Kung Pao?” he asked.

“Yeah, it's the best!” Ben said. Daddy held out his hand, and they high-fived each other.

“Ben has always liked spicy food,” Lisa said. “I craved it when I was pregnant with him, but I'm not really a fan.”

“That's my boy,” Daddy said with a grin. 

“Mary craved red meat when she was pregnant with Dean, and then with Sam she couldn't stand the sight of it,” Grandpa John said, “She barely wanted to eat any meat when she was pregnant with Sammy, but then as soon as we got out of the hospital, she had me drive to the store and pick up steaks for me to cook on the grill,” he laughed. 

“Hmm, I wonder if that's why Dean is 'Mr. Cheeseburger and Fries' and I like salad and eating healthy so much,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Could be,” Lisa said.

“I doubt it,” Daddy scoffed. “Sam just likes rabbit food and refuses to eat real food.”

Ben laughed at that. “Rabbit food!” he grinned. 

Uncle Sam brought my plate over and I balanced it on my knees. He gave me a fork and set a napkin on the arm of the sofa next to me. “Would you prefer a spoon?” he asked me.

“No, I'm not a baby!” I said. “I can use a fork just fine!” 

Everyone started to eat- Lisa and Ben sat at the table, Uncle Sam sat at the desk near me, and Grandpa John leaned against the stove. Daddy was getting beer out of the fridge for everyone, and he brought one over to Uncle Sam. 

I had been having problems getting the vegetables to stay on my fork, and I was getting more and more frustrated. A big piece of broccoli fell off of the fork and rolled onto the floor. 

“Dam-- I mean dangit!” I corrected myself, as I saw Daddy stop walking and turn to me. He came over to me and looked down at me. “Charlie, I've had enough of the bad language from you recently,” he said sternly, putting his hands on his hips.

I looked up at him, and snapped, “Well this is freakin' annoying!” 

 

He squatted down in front of me, and then put his hand on my neck, and pulled me forwards a little so that our heads were almost touching.  
“One more bad word, and I will wash your mouth out with soap,” he said in a harsh whisper. “I'm not going to argue with you, and I better not hear anything else. Do you understand?” his clear green eyes flicked back and forth between mine. 

“I—I can't help it!” I spoke in an angry whisper and tried to move my head away.

“Well you'd better help it, unless you want to get in trouble in front of everyone here,” he said. “Cool it.” 

I gulped, imagining everyone knowing that I was getting punished. “Yes, Daddy,” I said meekly. 

“Come sit at the table, and then you won't have to hold the plate with your hand. It'll be easier to eat if you're not holding on to your plate,” Daddy said to me, standing up.

“Okay, Daddy,” I agreed. He took my plate, and I walked over and sat next to Ben. It was easier to concentrate on eating when I wasn't having to hold my plate still and keep it balanced. 

I blushed, because Daddy had scolded me in front of everyone.

Ben looked at me and crossed his eyes and stuck out the tip of his tongue, trying to cheer me up. I giggled a little bit. 

Then he started tossing the peanuts from his dish in the air, and trying to catch them in his mouth. He caught most of them, but a couple bounced off of his chin or his nose, and I laughed.

“All right, that's enough,” Lisa said, coming over to us. “You're getting peanuts all over the floor, Ben. Clean them up, please.” 

Ben scooted his chair back and disappeared under the table, and then put the peanuts he'd found on a napkin. 

After we ate, we had cupcakes for dessert. 

“So what's the plan now that Charlie's out of the hospital?” Lisa asked, folding the boxes if food closed.

“Charlie's got PT over at the hospital three times a week and a check up once a week for now,” Daddy said. “Her doctor is doing a study on her.” 

“I'm going to be doing home-schooling with her,” Uncle Sam said. “We'll do that every day. When does Ben's school start?”

“Next week,” Lisa told him. “I also wanted to let you know, he's doing baseball again, and if you want to come watch his practice, his team practices on Mondays and Thursdays. They'll have a game every weekend, and we'd love it if you could come.”

“That would be great,” Daddy said. 

“The games are at a community park, they've got a couple of playgrounds and a concession stand and a track for running, as well as a walking path. It's about 15 minutes away from here,” Lisa said. “and Dean, I need you to sign that paper for school that I told you about.” 

“Okay,” Daddy said, “I asked Sam and Dad and they're fine with it too.”

“What paper? Fine with what?” Ben asked.

“I asked Dean if he'd be okay with being an emergency contact for you, and I also put down that he and Sam and John can all pick you up from school if they need to,” Lisa told him, “If that's okay with your majesty who needs to know everything.”

“Sure!” Ben said. “I didn't know when I got a Dad, I'd be getting a whole family too!” he looked at me. “The park where my games are is really cool, they have this one playground that has a big climbing area with lots of tunnels, my friends and I play this game in there.”

“Oh, I saw a park down the street from here, is that an okay place?” Uncle Sam asked.

“As far as I know,” Lisa said, “It's maintained by the church that's on the other side of it.” 

“We can go there during the day for part of your exercise, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Can we go now, and look at it?” Ben asked.

“Sure, why not?” Daddy said. He looked at me. “How are you feeling, you okay to go?”

“Yeah, I want to try,” I agreed. 

Daddy helped Lisa finish cleaning up.

“Do you want to walk, or use the wheelchair?” Uncle Sam asked me.

“I want to walk,” I said.

“Charlie, maybe you should use the chair, you don't want to overdo it,” Daddy looked at me.

“No, I want to walk,” I insisted. 

“Okay then,” Daddy said. 

We walked past the hotel, through a residential neighborhood, until we got to the playground. Ben started to run around, and I sat on a swing and Daddy pushed me, then Ben pushed me. 

“Wanna play chase?” he asked me.

“Uh, I'll try,” I said. I started to try to run after him.

The adults were over by a bench that was under a tree. “Hey, Charlie, what are you doing?” Daddy called, “Be careful please! I don't want you to hurt yourself!” 

“I won't!” I called back, and then I tripped over my feet, but I caught myself on the edge of the slide. I climbed the ladder and went down the slide a couple of times- it was a tall curvy one. 

Then I sat down heavily on the end of the slide. “I'm tired now,” I said. My arms and legs felt heavy suddenly. “I want to go,” my voice was a whine, even though I wasn't trying to. “Carry me, Daddy,” I held me arms up.

“You sure?” he asked, coming over to me. 

“Yeah, I'm too tired to walk,” I said. Daddy leaned down and picked me up. I felt sleepy, and rested my head on his shoulder.

“Sam, can you grab the walker?” Daddy called over his shoulder. 

We walked back to our room, and I was barely aware of everyone talking because I was so tired. 

Daddy set me down on the floor when we went inside. “Go brush your teeth and get changed into your pajamas,” he told me.

“I'm too tired,” I whined, “I just wanna go to bed.” 

“You should brush your teeth, you had cake twice today,” Uncle Sam said.

I burst into tears. “I'm really tired, I don' wanna do anything! I jus' wanna go to bed!” I wailed. 

“Well, I guess we now know what happens when Charlie over does it,” Daddy said. “All right, go get in bed. Say good night to Lisa and Ben.” 

“Bye,” I sniffled. “Thanks for everything.” 

“I'll put you to bed,” Grandpa John said, and he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. He set me down on the edge of the bed. 

“Is this what you want to wear?” he asked me, pulling the new nightgown out from the pocket in the pillow.

“Yeah,” I said, still sniffling. 

He knelt down and took off my shoes and socks, and then helped me off with my shirt and shorts, and slipped the nightgown over my head. He leaned over and pulled the covers down, and I crawled over and laid down against my pillow.

Daddy and Uncle Sam walked into the room as Grandpa John was pulling the covers up.

“Are you okay?” Daddy asked with concern.

“Just got really tired all of a sudden,” I murmured.

“You had a big day today. We'll know next time to make sure to bring your chair.” He leaned over and picked up MaryBear and Hello Kitty and tucked them in next to me, then leaned down to kiss my forehead and hug me. Uncle Sam was next, and then Grandpa John, and he ruffled my hair as he stood up after hugging me. 

I felt lucky just then, that I now had not one person who would tuck me in, but three people, whereas with my Mom, when she had been sick, there had been no one to tuck me in or hug me or kiss me goodnight. By the time I went to bed she had usually been asleep for hours, and I hadn't been tucked in for almost two years. I had missed it, and I had made myself not miss it, so that I wouldn't get upset.

That thought made me start to cry again, and I called out, “Daddy!”

He came to the door, holding a beer bottle in his hand. “Yeah, baby?” 

“Can you...come sit with me?” I asked hesitantly.

“Sure, what's up?” he walked over and sat down on the bed, and I sat up and leaned on him. He pulled me onto his lap and put his arms around me.  
“I just...was thinking about when I was with Mommy...and how no-one tucked me in or anything for a long time...and how I missed it...when we met I didn't think it would be like this...you didn't seem like a daddy...but now it's nice...” I murmured, trying not to cry harder. I snuggled into his flannel chest.

Daddy chuckled in the back of his throat. “I know what you mean. I didn't know what I was doing and I certainly didn't feel like I could be a father when I met you but...it feels different now, and it feels like we're a family. Does it feel that way to you?”

I shifted back and looked up at him. “Yeah,” I whispered. “Thank you.” 

He smiled down at me. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “You're the one who made it all happen. We wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for you.”

“I love you, Daddy,” I whispered.

He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “I love you too, baby girl.”

 

I woke up in the morning to the smell of frying bacon. I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, limping a little bit. When I got to the door of the bedroom, I saw Daddy standing at the stove. He put the spatula down and walked over to me.

“Good morning,” he said, leaning down to hug me. I grabbed aholdof him.

“Carry me, Daddy,” I said. He carried me over to the table and set me in a chair.

“You want some scrambled eggs?” he asked.

“Yes please,” I said. There was a carton of orange juice on the table and he poured a glass for me, and put it in front of me. 

Uncle Sam walked over and sat down next to me, holding the touch pad.

“Here's the schedule I made up for you,” he said to me.

I looked at the screen. This is what it said:

Mon-Wed-Fri // Tues-Thurs  
8:00-9:30 schoolwork// 8-11 schoolwork  
9:30-10:00 travel // 11-12 exercises  
10-11 PT at hospital//  
11- 11:30 travel//  
11:30-12:00 lunch // 12- 12:30 lunch  
12:15- 2:00 rest // 12:30- 2:00 rest  
2:00-4:00 schoolwork // 2-4 schoolwork  
4-5 free time/computer games  
5-6 dinner  
6-7 playground or Ben's practice  
7-8:00 free time/bath/read for bed  
8:00 bedtime

I looked at it, then I looked at Uncle Sam. “This- this isn't—my life is over!” I exclaimed.

Daddy burst out laughing. 

“What do you mean, it's over?” Uncle Sam asked. “Because you have a schedule?”

Daddy walked over and leaned down, reading the screen over my shoulder. “Well, think about it, Sam, she's going from being in the hospital and having no real schedule at all to-- to this.” He gestured at the touch pad.

“She'd have to follow a schedule at school, and it wouldn't be a big deal,” Uncle Sam said, “You're making it a big deal out of it because she's at home.”

“Hmm,” Daddy said.

“Now, let's talk about rules,” Uncle Sam looked at me, “I've made up this schedule, and I expect you to follow it, just like you would at school. We're going to do your school work together, and there are times when you'll have work to do on your own. I'll check it later and we'll go over it.”

“What about breaks?” I asked.

“I'm getting to that. You'll have a break at lunch time, and during travel, and then in the evening before dinner and before bed. You won't be allowed to play any of the games on the touchpad or do any free reading until all your work is done for the day.”

“Geez, what a spoilsport,” Daddy said.

“Dean, she wouldn't get time to just play during the school day,” Uncle Sam turned to glare at him.

“Sure she would, ever heard of recess? Or free play?” Daddy set a plate of bacon on the table between us. 

“She will be getting recess- we'll be doing exercises.” 

“That's not recess, recess is kids running around doing what they want,” Daddy shook his head. 

“We'll do that too, when we go to the playground. This isn't written in stone, we can change thing up if we need to.” Uncle Sam refilled his coffee and sat back down.

Grandpa John walked into the room, talking on the phone. “All right, I'll keep looking, and call you back.” He disconnected the call and put the phone in his pocket. “There she is!” he said, smiling at me. “How are you this morning, Charlie?”

“I'm okay,” I said. 

Grandpa John sat down next to me. “What are you looking at?”

“Sam's scheduled Charlie's day down to the last second,” Daddy brought a big bowl of scrambled eggs over to the table and set it down.

Grandpa John leaned over and looked at the schedule on the touch pad. Then he looked at Uncle Sam. “Kinda ambitious of you, don't you think?” he asked.

Uncle Sam looked at him. “I don't know why you guys think I'm overdoing this,” he said. “Charlie is a smart girl, and I don't want her to get bored. And it's better to have a schedule in place, than nothing at all.” 

“Yeah, you're probably right,” Grandpa John said. 

“Like I said, this isn't written in stone, I'm sure we'll need to make changes to it. We'll figure it out. The idea is to have fun, right, Charlie?” Uncle Sam smiled at me.

Daddy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, a tight schedule is a lot of fun.” 

“Okay Dean, why don't you do it then?” Uncle Sam challenged him. “You make up the schedule and teach her, instead of running off at the mouth here.”

“Geez, Sam, I'm just--”

“Well I'm sick of you--”

“BOYS,” Grandpa John said loudly. “Stand down, and let's enjoy our first breakfast in our new place with Charlie.” 

Daddy sighed, and Uncle Sam huffed, but they stopped arguing. Daddy sat down, and we started to eat breakfast.


	42. Chapter 42

“Daddy, look!” I pointed at the huge fishtank. We had gone to the local library, because Grandpa John was helping Uncle Bobby with something and looking up information. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were in the main part of the library and Daddy had taken me to the kid's section. 

We walked over to the tank, which had a crowd of kids around it. I was using my walker for now, so that I didn't get tired out too quickly. 

A woman that was standing behind a couple of kids glanced at me, and then tapped a boy's shoulder. “Move over,” she said to him quietly. He glanced at her. “Mom, I'm trying to see how many tetras they have,” he said with annoyance. “You've looked long enough, let this...little girl have a chance,” she said. He turned and looked at me. “Oh,” he said, when he saw my walker. He moved out of the way so that I could move in front of him.

“Thank you,” I said. The tank had lots of brightly colored fish in it and a couple of snails that were on the walls of the aquarium. 

“At night they turn on the blue light so that the neons glow, it's really cool,” the boy told me.

“That's neat,” I said. I looked for a couple more minutes and then I turned to go. I was still learning how to move the walker around and turning it was hard. Daddy came over and helped me. “Where do you want to look, Charlie?” he asked. 

“I dunno,” I said. The children's section was big, with a reading area in the corner, that had a bunch of bean bags and overstuffed chairs and big pillows. There was another area for younger kids that had activity tables and a stand with puzzles. 

“Can I get some books out?” I asked.

“I've got to see if we can get a library card,” Daddy said. “Usually to take books out you need to be a resident of the area. I'll go ask the librarian.” 

“Okay,” I said. I walked over to the section with chapter books and started to look at them. 

A couple minutes later, he came back. “There you are. I just need to go over to the front desk, they'll give me one. Do you want to come with me?”

“No, I'll stay here,” I said. 

“All right, stay in this section, and don't wander off,” he told me. 

When I was at the end of the aisle I looked up, and a stuffed dragon that was hanging from the ceiling in the far corner caught my eye. I went over to it- there was a big shelf with lots of books about myths and legends and fairy tales. I started to look at the books on the shelf. 

“Charlie, I told you to stay in the other section,” Daddy said sternly. 

“Look!” I pointed at the dragon. “I just had to come and see what was here!” 

Daddy put his finger under my chin and made me look at him. “Charlie, you disobeyed me. You can't do that,” his face was angry.

“Sorry, Daddy,” I said, feeling a pang in my stomach. Had I broken a rule?

“I'm going to let it go because you're in the kid's section and you stayed here, but next time, you'd better do what I tell you, understand?” 

“Yes, Daddy,” I said, was relieved that I wasn't in trouble. Uncle Sam probably would have put me in time out or something!

“Can I get some books out?” I asked him.

“Sure, go ahead,” he agreed.

I started to pull some off the shelf. 

“Whoa, slow down,” he chuckled. “Leave some books here for other people!” 

“But I've never seen these before, and I want to read them,” I said.

“Okay, wait. Let's start with three books the first time, so we can make sure that you can keep track of them and we return them on time and all that.” 

I sighed with disappointment. “O-kaay,” I put most of them back and kept the three I most wanted to read. 

“I'll take those for you,” Daddy said to me.

Uncle Sam came walking up to us. “How's it going, we're about ready to go.”

“Do you want to keep looking around, Charlie, or go?”

“I wanted to go see the playground,” I said. There was a door in the kids' section to an outdoor area with a large colorful playground area. 

“Well, Dad needs to get back to the room and call Bobby,” Uncle Sam said, “Time is of the essence here.”

“All right. Charlie, we'll have to come back,” Daddy said regretfully. 

“Aww, I want to stay!” I complained.

“Not today, baby,” Daddy said. “C'mon, let's go get your books checked out.” 

“Oh, did you get a library card?” Uncle Sam asked.

“Yeah, I did,” Daddy told him. 

“I don't want to go,” I said stubbornly, not moving.

“Charlie, we need to,” Uncle Sam said. 

“I don't waaaaant to!” I whined, crossing my arms over my chest. 

“Yes,” Uncle Sam said, “Let's go.” 

“No!” 

Uncle Sam looked down at me for a long moment. “Come on, young lady,” he said in a stern voice. 

I looked up at him and stomped my foot. “No!” 

He sighed. “I'm not going to stand here arguing,” he leaned over and picked me up. “Dean, I'll meet you at the car.”

“Put me down!” I said loudly, trying to twist out of Uncle Sam's arms. “Lemme go!”

Uncle Sam walked quickly out of the kids' section, and I saw Grandpa John browsing at the front of the library. “What's wrong?” he asked, following us. 

“Lemme GO!” I shouted, trying to kick my feet as Uncle Sam shifted me. I looked over and saw a couple of kids smirking at me. 

Uncle Sam opened the back of the car and put me on the seat. “That's enough, young lady,” he said.

“Why'd you have to do that! Some kids were- were laughing at me!” I said hotly.

“You were the one making all the noise,” he said. 

“You didn't have to carry me out of there!” 

“You weren't listening to me, and I wasn't going to keep arguing,” he said, “Get buckled.” 

“Hmph!” I folded my arms and glared at him. 

“I guess you want to go to bed early tonight? Because that's what's going to happen if you keep this up,” Uncle Sam looked at me and raised his eyebrows. 

“Nooo, Daddy and I are gonna watch a monster movie marathon,” I said.

“Then behave yourself,” Uncle Sam said. “Do what I tell you.” 

I turned in my seat and then buckled the seatbelt. Daddy walked over to the car. “We all set?” he asked.

“I just had to straighten Charlie out is all,” Uncle Sam said. “She's getting some of her sass back.”

“Uh-oh,” Daddy said with a grin. “Watch out, world.” 

We drove back to the hotel and I curled up on the sofa with one of the new books, and then all of a sudden Daddy was shaking my shoulder.   
“Hey, sweetheart, it's time to go eat dinner,” he said, “We're going to go out, okay?” 

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. “Okay,” I yawned. 

We drove to a steakhouse that was like the one that we had gone to with Uncle Bobby, that had little metal buckets of peanuts on the tables. It was crowded when we got there. 

We had to wait a few minutes for a table. We sat in a booth, me next to Daddy. He folded the walker up and slid it under the table. 

“What do you want to drink?” he asked me.

“Is there lemonade?” I asked.

Uncle Sam flipped his menu over. “Yeah, there is,” he told me. 

The waitress came over and looked at Daddy and then at Uncle Sam. Daddy ordered my drink for me. I started eating peanuts and dropping the shells on the floor. 

“Don't fill up on peanuts,” Uncle Sam said. “Save some room for dinner.” 

“I know, Uncle Sam,” I said with a little huff. He just gave me a look before he bent his head over the menu.

When the waitress brought our drinks she handed Daddy the lemonade and didn't look at me. Daddy, Uncle Sam, and Grandpa John had all ordered beer that came in tall glasses. 

“Uh, Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom,” I told him in a low voice. He got out of the booth and I slid out and stood there for a moment. 

“I'll get the walker,” he said, pulling it out and unfolding it. He walked behind me to the bathroom and stood outside waiting for me. 

“Let me know if you need help,” he called as I went in. the big stall was empty so I went into that one. When we walked back I noticed some people looking at me. I was moving slow because my legs were tired. I heard Daddy say, “Oh, I'm sorry,” behind me, and turned back to look at him.

“Keep going,” he said to me. There was a server behind us with a big tray of food, trying to get past. I felt bad that I was in the way.

When we got back to the table I sat down and Daddy put the walker back under the table. 

The waitress came over in a couple of minutes and started to take our orders. I started to talk and she said to Daddy, “And what will she be having?”

Daddy glanced at me and looked up at her. “Uh, she's telling you,” he said.

The waitress was looking at him and it seemed like she was avoiding looking at me. 

I told her what I wanted to eat and she wrote it down and took the menus. 

“Why did she do that?” I asked, looking at Daddy and then at Uncle Sam. “She's acted like she doesn't want to look at me.”

“Sometimes people are uncomfortable with disabilities,” Grandpa John said. “She saw you using the walker and doesn't know why you're using it and it makes her uncomfortable. I had a couple of buddies who were in wheelchairs after they came back from 'Nam and they had situations like that happen all the time.” 

“Well that's just dumb,” I huffed.

“I know, sweetheart, but it's the way some people just are,” Grandpa John said. 

Every time the waitress came to the table she wouldn't look at me or talk to me. By the time she brought the check, I had had enough. I stood up and said to her, “I'm a normal kid ya know, you don't have to be scared of me. Being scared of people who use a walker is dumb.”

“Charlie, be nice,” Daddy said. 

The waitress blushed. “Oh, I- I'm sorry,” she put the check down on the table and turned around to hurry away. 

We waited, but she never came back to the table. Daddy flagged down another waitress and gave her the check.

“Let's go out to the car,” Uncle Sam said, because I was getting restless and fidgety. He and I went out to the car and got in to wait. In a few minutes Daddy and Grandpa John came out. 

“I talked to the manager, told him his wait staff needs some sensitivity training,” Grandpa John said.

“Apparently that waitress just doesn't have much experience around kids or disabled people,” Daddy said, “and she's just weirded out by it.”

“I still think it's dumb,” I said, crossing my arms.

“Yeah, it is, Uncle Sam agreed, “but it's rude to say that to people, Charlie. Find some other way to express that thought.” 

“O-kaay,” I sighed.

 

 

“Charlie, it's time to wake up,” Uncle Sam said.

I rolled over and opened one eye. “Whaa?” I mumbled. 

“Get up and come have some breakfast, and then we can start your schoolwork.”

“Aww, do I have to?” I groaned. 

“Yes,” Uncle Sam said decisively, pulling the covers back. 

“Heeeyyy!” I whined, sitting up and reaching for them. 

“Nope,” he grabbed my wrist. “Come on, Charlie. It's your first day of school!”

I held my arms up. “Carry me!”

Uncle Sam gave me a look. “You just woke up, and you want to be carried? No way.”

“Uncle Saaaaamm--”

“Sam, what're you doing?” Daddy groaned in the bed next to us. He and I had stayed up late watching movies both Saturday and Sunday nights.

“It's time for Charlie to wake up so that she can start her work. I want to get in at least an hour before we have to leave for PT,” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy sat up. “Oh, right, she's got PT today,” He rubbed his face. “You want to take her, or should I?” he grinned at Uncle Sam. “I guess you'll want to, so you can see your girl.”

“She's not my girl, Dean,” Uncle Sam shook his head. “Come on, Charlie, I'll make you some oatmeal.” he left the room.

I sighed and got out of bed. Daddy beckoned me, and I walked over to him. He pulled me into a hug, onto the bed. “It's so nice to wake up and see you here, instead of in a hospital bed,” he said. “I'm still tired, are you?”

“Yeah,” I yawned. Daddy laid back down with me in his arms, and I snuggled into him. 

A couple minutes later we heard Uncle Sam's voice again. “Charlie, it's ready!” he called. Then footsteps, and then Uncle Sam scoffed. I turned my head- he was standing in the doorway.

“Dean, you're not helping,” Uncle Sam said. “She needs to get up.”

“I just wanted to snuggle with my girl for a few minutes, is that a crime?” Daddy asked. He patted my shoulder. “Go on, get up and eat breakfast. I'll be there in a minute.”

I walked out to the kitchen and ate the oatmeal that Uncle Sam had made me, then we went over to the desk and he started showing me how to do stuff on the tablet. He sat with me while I was figuring it out, and then Grandpa John came into the room and asked him some questions. He was still helping Uncle Bobby with a case. 

Since we were doing Language Arts first, and it was reading, it was fun and easy for me. Before I knew it, it was time to get dressed and leave for PT. Uncle Sam drove me, and I brought the tablet and kept doing my schoolwork. 

Imani said that she was glad I'd been doing more walking, and looked at the schedule that Uncle Sam had made for me. 

“Just remember that Charlie is still building up her stamina, and she will still get tired out more quickly,” she said. “You might want to schedule more breaks.”

“I know we're going to have to tweak things,” Uncle Sam told her. “But I wanted to have a schedule in place to start with.”

“Yes, a schedule is a good thing,” she agreed, smiling up at him.

I fell asleep in the car on the way home, because I was so tired out from PT. When I woke up it was the middle of the afternoon. 

“Daddy,” I called out. “Daddy?”

He came to the bedroom door. “Yeah, baby?” he asked. 

I held up my arms. “I'm starving, carry me.”

He walked over to the bed and picked me up. “You slept through lunch,” he told me, taking me over to the table and setting me down. “What do you want to eat?”

“Um...a grilled cheese sandwich. No, do we have mac-n-cheese?” I asked.

“No, we don't,” he said apologetically. “I can get some if you want.”

“Mommy used to get those little cups you put in the microwave, they're my favorite, The ones in the blue box.” 

“I know the ones you mean,” daddy said. “I'll pick some up from the store next time I go. How about grilled cheese?”

“Okay,” I agreed. 

Uncle Sam walked into the room from his room while I was waiting. “There you are,” he said, “Feeling rested now?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said. “Can I watch t.v.?”

“No, I'd like for you to do some more schoolwork,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Aww, do I have to?” I complained. 

He sat down. “Charlie, if you were in regular school, you'd have to do it all day. You wouldn't get breaks to watch t.v.”

"But I'm not in regular school, so I can do what I want.” I said stubbornly.

“Uh, no you can't,” uncle Sam said. “We're doing homeschooling, and so that means you have to do what I tell you to do.” 

“Sam, you're forgetting that she just got out of the hospital-” Daddy started to say. 

Uncle Sam interrupted him. “I'm well aware of that, and I can see that we're going to have to change things. I'll deal with that, it's fine. But I don't want Charlie to get the idea that she can just slack off because she's tired or because she just doesn't want to do the work. I expect her to get a certain amount of work done every day.” 

“But Sam, you can't do that yet, she's still getting used to being out of the hospital.” 

Uncle Sam sighed. “Dean, I know that, God, would you stop already?” He glared at Daddy. “Every time you object, you're undermining what I'm trying to do with Charlie! I'm trying to establish that she needs to expect to work every day and be on a schedule, and you're constantly telling me I'm wrong, and I don't appreciate it!”

Grandpa John had come into the room and was listening to Uncle Sam. “Sam's right, Dean,” he said. “He's got to be the authority as far as home-schooling is concerned. Let him do what he's trying to do.” 

“Fine,” Daddy said shortly. “But if I see that it's too much for Charlie or that she's getting too tired, I will step in and say something.” 

“That's fine,” Uncle Sam said. “But let me get her into a routine first.”

“I don't want to work all day,” I whined. 

“You're not going to have to,” Uncle Sam said. “But you did less than an hour this morning, and I want you to do some more this afternoon. Come on, the social studies unit is really interesting, and it's more reading. Finish up your lunch.”

“Oh- kaay,” I said sourly, “Can I have another sandwich?” I asked hopefully, looking at Daddy. 

“All right,” he said, getting up from the table. “Dad, Sam, you want one?”

He made more sandwiches, and we all sat and ate together. Uncle Sam was right, the social studies was interesting, and the questions I had to answer were fun. I liked it.

 

 

“You're doing great,” Uncle Sam told me on Tuesday. “I'm really impressed with how fast you read. I think we're going to get ahead in Language Arts in no time.”   
He turned and pulled a box out of his messenger bag. “Put the tablet to the side,” he said, “You're going to practice writing every day too, it will help with your fine motor skills in your hands. I asked Imani about it.” 

He put a pad of paper in front of me and opened the box. Inside were a set of those fat crayons that toddlers use and the thick pencils that they give you when you're first learning how to write in Kindergarten.

I stared at him. “What?” I exclaimed. “I'm not using those!”

Uncle Sam looked surprised. “Wh--”

“I'm not- I'm not a baby, I'm not a dumb little kindergartener who can't write! I don't need to use those!” I pushed the chair back and got up, starting to cry. The tears made my vision blurry and I tripped and fell down, and then I wailed because I hurt my knee. 

Uncle Sam helped me up, and then Daddy was next to us. “What's wrong? What happened? Why is she crying?”

“I—don't—want—to—use--those!!” I wailed.

“I showed her the crayons and pencils I got, they're those big ones that little kids use--” Uncle Sam said. “and then she did this--”

Daddy picked me up and hugged me. “Why is it upsetting you, huh?”

“Because it's for babies and little kids, and I'm not! And all of this makes me feel, it makes me feel like a baby anyways!” I sobbed. 

“We know you're not a baby, sweetheart, and you know you're not either, right? You just need some help re-learning how to use your body, and the crayons and pencils are tools to help you. Think of it that way, okay, not that they're things that a little kid uses.” Daddy smoothed my hair back from my face and looked at me. “They're helping you learn, and that's why Uncle Sam got them.” 

“O-okay,” I sniffled. 

“Honey, I'm sorry, if I'd known they were going to upset you, I wouldn't have gotten them, or I would have talked to you about them first,” Uncle Sam said, looking me in the eyes. 

“S'okay, Uncle Sam,” I said.

“Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?” Daddy asked.

“I bumped my knee, but I'm okay,” I sniffled.

“Did she trip over something?” Grandpa John asked, looking around. 

“Just her feet,” Uncle Sam said. 

“We'd better make sure the floor stays clear, just in case,” Grandpa John said, “Don't want her to trip over anything and fall.” 

Daddy kissed my knee, and then put me down. “You okay to get back to work?”

“Yeah,” I said. 

Grandpa John patted my cheek and smiled at me, and then he followed Daddy back to his room. They were in the other bedroom helping Uncle Bobby with research for a case and using Uncle Sam's lap top.

I walked back over to the desk with Uncle Sam and we sat down.

“Do you want to try and do this?” he asked me. 

“Okay,” I agreed. It felt funny using the fat crayons but I got used to it. My writing was big and sloppy.

“Every day we'll practice writing,” he told me. “And you'll get better and better as your hand gets stronger. You had pretty neat handwriting, didn't you?”

“Yeah.” 

“I think you'll get back to that in no time,” he smiled at me. 

When I was done with that, he pulled out a long mat that had been rolled up in the corner, and helped me do some exercises. 

Daddy went into the kitchen and started to work on lunch. “We've got lunch meat, do you want a sandwich?” he called to me.

“I want mac-n-cheese,” I said. 

“Well, I didn't get any yet.” 

“But that's what I want!” I complained. 

“I'll go out tonight and get some,” Daddy told me. “Do you want a turkey sandwich or a ham sandwich?”

“Turkey,” I said. “And don't forget to cut the crusts off!” 

“Charlie,” Uncle Sam frowned at me. “Ask nicely.”

“Well he always forgets!” I grumped. 

“Don't start getting cranky,” Uncle Sam said. “Maybe we should have you rest before lunch.” 

“Nooo,” I whined. “Can I be done now?”

“Yeah, I guess we're done. Do some leg stretches to help you cool down,” he told me. 

After I had stretched, he helped me up, and then Grandpa John came in and we all sat and ate lunch together again. It was nice to eat meals with all of them, instead of sitting by myself eating a bowl of microwaved soup or a bowl of cereal like I had used to. 

 

 

“So, Charlie, how did your first week of home-schooling go?” Lisa asked me. 

“Okay I guess,” I replied.

“We have to make some changes to the schedule, but we're getting there,” Uncle Sam told her. “Charlie is picking things up very quickly, which I figured she would.”

“That's good,” Lisa smiled at me. “I know it's hard to be back into the swing of things, we've had issues with getting certain people out of bed in the mornings,” she reached over and ruffled Ben's hair. “Someone needs to stop playing video games so late at night.”

“But Mom, that's when my friends are online,” Ben said. 

“I know, but you can't be up late when you've got school in the morning,” Lisa said to him, “We've already talked about this, Ben.” 

“I know,” Ben sighed. “Hey Charlie, wanna go to my room and hang out?”

“Sure,” I said. I followed him up the stairs slowly, holding on to the railing.

We were at Lisa and Ben's for a Labor Day picnic. Daddy and Grandpa John were outside lighting the grill to cook hamburgers and hotdogs.

I had never been in a boy's bedroom before. There were posters all over the walls, a couple of baseball players and a couple of superheroes. There was a series of plastic sleeves with baseball cards in them pinned on the wall next to Ben's bed. There were some clothes strewn across the floor and he kicked them quickly under the bed.  
“Mom told me to clean my room before you guys got here, I guess I forgot,” he said sheepishly. He had a small t.v. at the foot of his bed.  
“I really want to have my own computer in here, but Mom won't let me,” he told me. “I have to play on her laptop so that she can keep an eye on what I do.” 

“Yeah, Uncle Sam is protective of his laptop, I can't play on it cause he uses it for work. But he got me a tablet for school and said he put some games on there for me.” 

“You can go on the internet and find free games for your tablet,” he told me, “There's all kindsa sites with free stuff on them.”

“Cool, I didn't know I could do that with the tablet!” 

He showed me his action figures and the fortress he had made for Batman. He had taken a bunch of shoeboxes and glued them together on their sides and then made furniture and stuff out of cardboard and taped or glued them in place. “I want to make another couple of rooms too, maybe you can help me,” he said.

“I used to have a big dollhouse that was really neat,” I told him.

“What happened to it?” he asked. 

“We, uh, had to leave it when I went with Daddy and Uncle Sam because it was too big to fit into the car and all.”

“Oh. That's too bad.” 

“Ben! Charlie! Food is ready!” Lisa called up the stairs.

“Coming Mom!” Ben called back. He thundered down the stairs in front of me and then stood at the bottom, waiting as I carefully walked down. I wasn't used to stairs too much and my balance felt off. 

Daddy walked over and stood next to Ben, watching me walk. “You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Getting tired?”

“No, Daddy,” I said, rolling my eyes. 

“Hey, I'm just checking,” he said, “No need for eye rolling.” 

 

 

 

“C'mon,” Ben said to me. I followed him over to the shed and he pulled on the door. The metal screeched as it moved. He stepped inside for a moment and then came back out, holding a couple of small boxes. “I saved these from the Fourth of July,” he showed me a box of sparklers. “I figured there would be another special occasion for them. C'mon,” he started to walk around behind the shed and I followed him.

“Um, are you allowed, I mean, shouldn't you ask your mom?” I asked hesitantly. 

“Naw, she's cool with it,” he said confidently. “She was letting me light them myself when we were at the picnic before. It was awesome!” 

“Should we go get everyone and share them?” I turned to look around.

“No, 'cause then that'll be less for us. There's only like 10 per box.” He opened the thin box and pulled out two sparklers, then handed them to me. “Hold them like this,” he showed me. “You won't get hurt, it's okay.”   
He took the other box- it was a box of matches- and tried to light one, which didn't work. The next one lit, and he held it to the sparklers. After a few seconds they lit, and we stood there watching them. After they burned down, Ben stuck them into the grass, and then got out two more. We lit them and he was showing me how to draw my name in the air when we heard voices. 

“--made sure the grill was completely out, I don't know why there would be a fire back there--” I recognized Daddy's voice. 

“I don't know-- why is the shed open?” Lisa asked. 

I stared at Ben, and my stomach twisted. Were we going to get into trouble? 

Everyone walked around the corner of the shed and stood there staring at us. Daddy was holding a fire extinguisher. He exhaled when he saw us. “Jesus--” he started to say.

“What's going on?” Grandpa John said in a rough voice.

“Benjamin Isaac Braeden!” Lisa yelled. “What th- where did you get the sparklers?” 

“I saved them from Fourth of July, Mom,” he told her, ducking his head. 

She glared at him with an 'angry mom' face. “You saved them? And did you think to ask me if you could light them?”

Ben shifted, staring at the ground. “Uh...no.”

“And why not? Are you supposed to be playing with matches?”

“I-- I wasn't playing!” he looked up at her. “You let me light some at the picnic!” 

“Yes, because I was standing right there and there was a bucket of water to put them in! I told you that you could light them with adult supervision!” She shook her head. “And then you just put the used ones in the grass? Ben, you know the grass is dry right now because we haven't had any rain, do you want to light the yard on fire?” 

“Noo,” he whined, “but Mom--”

“Charlie, did you have anything to do with this?” Daddy asked in a hard voice.

“No sir,” Ben said quickly, “I was just showing her, I wanted to share the sparklers with her.” 

“That's very nice, Ben, but it doesn't take away from the fact that you were doing something very dangerous. What did we talk about the last time you played with matches?” Lisa glared at him.

Ben stared at her again and his face got red. “Moooom!” he protested. 

“Oh, so you were listening to me. Well, then you get upstairs and wait for me. I need a few minutes to calm down before I deal with you.”

Ben trudged away with his head down, and as he walked in front of Lisa she swatted his butt. 

We all walked back inside.

“I'm sorry we have to cut the evening short, I need to go deal with my miscreant son,” Lisa said.

“Hey, that's okay,” Daddy said. “We've all been there.” He leaned over and hugged her.

“Thanks for having us,” Uncle Sam said to her.

“Sure, and again, I'm sorry,” she replied, shaking her head. 

“Boys, huh?” Grandpa John said to her, shaking his head too, with a rueful grin. “Never a dull moment.” 

She huffed a little laugh. “You got that right!” 

“Oh, I could tell you some stories about these two,” Grandpa John nodded at Daddy and Uncle Sam and grinned at her so that his dimples showed. 

“Sam, remind me to make sure that Dad never gets any alone time with Lisa,” Daddy said, and they all laughed. They picked up a couple of bags and we walked out to the car. 

When we got in, Daddy turned around to me as I buckled the seatbelt. 

“What do you have to say, Charlie?” he asked.

I looked up at him. He looked stern. “Uh, about what?” I asked. 

“About what just happened with Ben.” 

I looked at him and then at Grandpa John, who was in the front passenger seat.

“Uh-- what-- what do you want me to say?” I asked uneasily. Was I in trouble?

“What happened? Did Ben just get the sparklers out and start lighting them?”

“Uh, yeah, he said he'd been saving them.”

“And you just—went along with this?” Daddy was frowning now.

“Well, I asked if he should ask his mom, and he said no. I said maybe we should share them with you guys and he said there were only 10 in the box so we should use them ourselves.”

Uncle Sam gave a little chuckle and shook his head. 

“Well Charlie, in the future, if Ben is planning on doing something like that, you come and tell an adult, you got it?” Daddy asked sternly.

“Okay-- but—I mean—am I in trouble?”

Daddy looked at me for a long moment. “Not this time,” he said. “I keep forgetting that you're an only child and you're not used to the whole 'having a brother' thing. You and Ben need to take care of each other and watch out for each other, and that includes telling someone if they're doing something unsafe.”

“But- isn't that tattling?” I asked. “We're not supposed to tattle.”

“Technically, yes, but in a case like this it's the best thing to do,” Uncle Sam said. “A lot of bad things could have happened, and if you had told us what was going on we would have known to stop it.” 

I felt tears come to my eyes. “I'm sorry!” I said. “I—I didn't know!” 

“I know, Charlie, that's why I said you're not in trouble,” Daddy looked at me with raised eyebrows. “The next time something like this happens, though, you will be in trouble along with Ben. I don't want you getting hurt again. I don't want either of you getting hurt.”

“Okay, Daddy,” I said. “Uh, did he get in trouble?”

` All of them chuckled. “Yeah, I think it's safe to say that,” Daddy said.

“When we get home, it will be time for bed,” Uncle Sam told me.

“Aww, whyyyy?” I whined.

“School tomorrow, with a new schedule,” he reminded me. “And if it's sunny we can go to the park.” 

Daddy started the car and pulled out into the road.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, so I figured I'd better put a Content Warning in: Charlie gets spanked in this chapter, DO NOT READ if this will bother or offend you.  
> ************

Uncle Sam walked over and stood in front of the t.v. “Come on, Charlie, it's time for you to go to bed.”

“Uncle Saaaam, you're in the way!” I frowned at him. 

He put his hands on his hips and frowned back at me. 

“I want to watch this with Daddy!” I whined. 

“C'mon, Sam, it's a half-hour show,” Daddy said. 

Uncle Sam sighed. “Dean, you know how Charlie gets when she doesn't get enough sleep, and she's been more tired since she's been doing the extra program at PT. She really shouldn't be staying up late.” 

“Geez, Sam--”

“I'm not going to bed yet, and I'm gonna stay up and watch!” I snapped, folding my arms over my chest. 

Uncle Sam came over to me and reached down to me.

“Nooooo, stooooop, get oooooofff!” I whined loudly as Uncle Sam tried to put his hands on me. I grabbed ahold of Daddy and clung to him.

“Charlie stop it!” Uncle Sam said in a louder voice, and Daddy sat up and yelled back at him, “Sam, quit trying to grab her!”

“Dean, help me out here, would you?” Uncle Sam's voice was an angry yell over Daddy's and my protests.

Grandpa John came striding over to us quickly. “HEY!” he said loudly. “Quiet down, you three, I can hear you in my room! I'm on the phone!” He had his hand cupped over his phone. He snapped his fingers at me. “Charlie, quit all that fussing and hit the rack,” he said sternly. 

I sat up. “But I-”

Grandpa John frowned at me. “Bed, little girl,” he growled, “Dean, put your kid to bed.” I gulped nervously. 

He turned and stalked out of the room, and I heard the phone beep. “I'm sorry about that,” he said, and then he closed the door. 

“Well, John Winchester has spoken,” Daddy said. “C'mon, kiddo, let's get you to bed.” 

“But Daddy--” I whined.

“Nope, when Dad gets that tone in his voice it's best to do what he says. And I'm not so sure he's not going to come back in here and kick all three of our as- I mean butts.” Daddy picked me up and carried me into the bedroom. I put my pajamas on and brushed my teeth and then got into bed. Uncle Sam came into the bedroom.

“Charlie, it's important for you to get a good night's sleep,” he said.

“Okayokay,” I grumped. 

“Hey,” he said, taking my chin in his hand. “Watch the attitude.” 

“Yes, Uncle Sam,” I said. He leaned down and hugged me, kissing my forehead before he straightened up. 

Daddy came over and sat down. He hugged me and then kissed my cheek, and I laid down. He pulled the covers up. “We'll just have to DVR the show and then have a marathon when grumpy Uncle Sam isn't around,” he told me, and I giggled.

“Good night, Daddy,” I said. 

“ 'Night, baby,” he replied, and he stood up and left the room.

 

 

M-W-F// T- Th

9-9:30 travel // 9-11 school work  
9:30-11 PT // 11-12 exercise  
11-11:30 travel // 12-1: 00 rest  
Rest until 1:00  
1- 1:30 lunch   
1:30- 4:00 schoolwork with break   
4-5 free time/computer  
5-6 dinner  
6-7 playground/free time  
7-8 bath/reading/ ready for bed  
8:00 bed

 

This week I had a new schedule- at PT they had added me to an exercise group with other kids where we did things together like play with a parachute and tossing a beach ball around together. I was so tired afterwards that I fell asleep in the car on the way back and slept for at least an hour after that, so Uncle Sam had adjusted my schedule. It was easier for me to do my work in the afternoon too, I wasn't a morning person. 

Grandpa John was still helping Uncle Bobby out with something and had to do research on the laptop a lot and go to the library sometimes. Uncle Sam was helping him and left me to do my work on my own, since he said I'd gotten the hang of it. A couple of times either Daddy or Uncle Sam had left to take Grandpa John to a different library in the next town over or to a building where they stored public records and they would be gone for a long time. I liked it better when Daddy was with me because he didn't hover like Uncle Sam and he would let me watch t.v. with him and didn't insist that I finish all my work. If I said I wanted a break he let me have one, even if I'd already had one a short time ago. Uncle Sam wasn't too happy about this, and he put me in time out once when he caught me taking a break shortly after I'd just taken one with him. He had also taken all my electronics away for the evening twice, because I hadn't done all my work. 

 

 

I was almost to the next level in my game, when all of a sudden Uncle Sam was there, and he took the tablet out of my hands.

“Hey!” I protested, reaching for it. “Give it back, I need to finish that level!”

He stood there frowning at me. “Why are you playing a game? Did you finish your work?” He tapped on the screen, and I watched him moving his finger, probably scrolling through my work. Then he looked up at me. “Young lady, what did I tell you before?” his voice was stern.

“Uh-” I gulped. “Which, uh, which thing?”

“What are the rules? Are you allowed to play games whenever you want?”

“Uh, no,” I ducked my head guiltily.

“Are you supposed to be playing games if your work isn't finished?”

“Uh, no,” I said again, staring at my hands in my lap. 

“We've already talked about this, Charlie. In fact, I told you that I need to check your work over before you get to play any games, and yet here you are sneaking again!” His jaw was tight and I knew he was angry at me.   
He started to tap the screen again. “I'm taking the games off of the tablet for now,” he told me, “When you've shown me that you can be responsible and do your work, then I'll put them back on.”

I reached up and tried to grab the touchpad. “No, you can't do that!” I exclaimed. “I'll lose all my points in my racing game! And I'll have to start over for all of them!” 

“Well, you should have thought of that before you decided to disobey me again,” he said. 

I jumped up on the couch and tried to grab the tablet again. “Give it!” I cried out. “You big giant meany!”

“Charlie, stop it. This is the consequence for your misbehavior.” He put his hand on my wrist and looked me in the eyes. “Do you want a spanking as well? Because with all of your attitude and sass lately, and this, I'm about ready to put you over my knee.”

I gulped again. “N-no, Uncle Sam,” I said quickly.

“Then let go and sit down,” he said in a hard voice. I sat down and watched as he tapped the screen, and I felt tears come to my eyes. 

“It's not faaaaaairr,” I whined. “I'm gonna lose everything I've done on all of them!” 

Daddy walked into the room. “What's wrong? Why is Charlie upset?”

Uncle Sam looked at Daddy. “I've already talked to Charlie about making sure her work is finished before she plays games on the tablet, and she decided to sneak again and play a game, even though she had barely done any work, so I'm taking the games off of it for now.” 

Daddy looked at me. “Charlie, you need to do your schoolwork,” he said.

“I know that!” I yelled, and I got up and ran to the bedroom, slamming the door. I threw myself on the bed and burst into tears.  
I heard the door open after a few minutes and then the bed dipped as someone sat down on it. I turned my head to look, and it was Daddy. He put his hand on my back. “I know you're upset, Charlie, but Sam's in the right here. Your work needs to get done before you play anything.”

“But I need breaks,” I sat up, sniffling.

“I know, baby, but maybe you should do something different during a break like read a book. Those games on your touchpad are for after your work is done.”

“That's a dumb rule that Uncle Sam made,” I huffed.

“I know, but it's his rule, and it's how he wants it, so you have to follow it,” He put his arms around me and hugged me. 

 

That evening we went to watch Ben's practice, and afterwards we walked over to a playground that was at the park. A lot of kids who had had practice were running around playing and there were parents grouped around the edges of the area talking. 

I used my walker over to the playground because I was getting tired. I left it with Daddy and Uncle Sam and followed Ben over to a huge structure that had large tubes to run through that were connected with ladders and bridges. 

“We pretend that this is our spaceship,” Ben told me, “That tube over there is the main control room.” 

“Wait, she's gonna play too?” a tall boy with red hair said. “Why'd she use that thing to walk over here, is she a retard?”

“No, Ian, she's not a retard, gosh,” Ben said. “She's my sister.”

“Since when'd you get a sister?” a shorter boy with blond curly hair asked. 

“We, uh, we just met, her and my, uh, my Dad,” Ben said. 

“What's wrong with her?” Ian asked, looking at me.

“She was sick and it made her have trouble moving,” Ben said. “Not that it's any of your business. Are we gonna play or are we gonna stand around yapping?” 

“Well, I just don't want to have to stop what we're doing to explain things to a 'tard,” Ian said. 

“You're rude!” I shouted. “I'm not retarded, and you're a big jerk!” I stepped towards Ian, clenching my fists. 

“Okay, okay, geez,” Ian said. “C'mon then.” 

I followed Ben into the tubes and he started telling me this story they had made up about being space explorers and the stuff they had done. I couldn't really follow the story he told me since a lot of it seemed like it was them running around in the tubes. I tried to follow them, but I started moving slower and slower. It seemed hot in the tubes, and I was getting sweaty. 

“Quick, we need to re-start the engines!” Ian yelled, coming up behind me. “Moveit, kid!” he snapped. He pushed my shoulder, and all of a sudden it was like my legs turned to spaghetti, weak and floppy. I fell down, and then I couldn't get back up. 

“Ben!” I called. “Ben, come here!”

He appeared at the end of the tube. “What, Charlie?”

“I can't-- my legs are weak, I can't get up.”

He got a scared look on his face as he hurried over. “I'll help you,” he leaned down and put his arm around my waist. “Didja fall down?” 

“My legs were feeling all rubbery and then Ian pushed me to get by and I fell.” I told him.

“Put your arm around my shoulder,” he said, pulling me up. He managed to half-carry, half-drag me out of the tunnels, and then he called, “Dean! DEAN! Charlie needs help!” 

“Daddy!” I called.

Daddy, Uncle Sam, and Lisa all came running over, and Daddy leaned down.

“What's wrong, Charlie?” he asked worriedly. 

“My legs started to feel all weak and then I fell down.” I told him.

“Anything else happen? How were you feeling before it happened?” Uncle Sam asked.

Ian came out of the tube. “Hey Ben, what're you doing? Come on!”

Ben ran over to him and shoved him, hard. “That's for pushing my sister, jerkface!”

“Hey!” Ian yelled, getting in Ben's face. 

“You're a douchewad!” Ben yelled, shoving him again. 

“Benjamin!” Lisa yelled. “What is going on here?” she walked over to the boys.

“Well first he, Ian called Charlie a retard and wanted to know why she used a walker! And then, in the tunnels, he pushed her and she fell over!”

A man with red hair who looked like a tall version of Ian had come over. “Really? he asked tightly. “Really, Ian? You're calling a child who uses a walker a retard? And putting your hands on them? What do you have to say for yourself, young man?”

“Sorry,” Ian's face got red and he stared at the ground. 

“Let's go,” Ian's dad said. “We need to have a talk about you being rude to people.” He nodded at Daddy as we walked by. “I'm sorry for my son's behavior, sir,” he said, and Daddy nodded back. 

Daddy looked at me. “Can you stand up?” he asked. He pulled me up, and let go, and I collapsed again. He picked me up. “Sam, grab the walker,” he said. “i guess we need to go,” he told Lisa.

“Has this happened before? She asked.

“No, it's hasn't,” Daddy said. “I'll call her doctor when we get home, Charlie's got PT tomorrow so maybe she'll want to see her then.” 

“All right, let me know how it goes,” Lisa bent forward and kissed my cheek. “Take care, Charlie,” she said kindly. “Come on, Ben, let's go.” 

“Thanks for helping Charlie, kiddo,” Daddy said to Ben. “We'll see you soon.”

“Hey Ben,” I called. He turned to look at me. “Thanks for protecting me,” I said. He grinned at me, and I smiled back at him. Lisa ruffled his hair as they walked away. 

Daddy put me in the back seat of the car and looked at me. “You okay?” he asked. 

I nodded. He and Uncle Sam got into the car. 

“That kid Ian was mean, he asked if I was retarded because I used a walker!” I said indignantly.

“Yeah, that kid was a punk,” Daddy agreed. “Seems like his dad was gonna straighten him out, though.”

“What's a douchewad?” I asked. I saw them glance at each other, and it sounded like Daddy chuckled and then turned it into a cough.

“It's, uh, it's a bad word, and I don't want to hear you say it,” Daddy told me.

“Yeah, but what does douchewad mean?” I asked. 

“It means...it's like a fancy way of saying jerk,” Uncle Sam's lips were twitching. “Don't say it again, Charlie.” 

“Okaaay,” I said. 

Uncle Sam turned and started to ask me questions- what had I eaten today, had I had enough to drink, what had I done on the playground, how I was feeling right before I fell down, how I was feeling physically. He asked me all the way back to the hotel, and told Daddy to remember everything that I was saying. 

 

 

I woke up slowly, hearing familiar electronic beeping. It took me a second to remember- I opened my eyes and turned my head. Daddy was sitting next to the hospital bed. 

“Hey, baby,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I said. “Is it all done?”

“Yeah, it's done,” he stood up. “Let me let the nurse know you're awake.” 

My legs had been weak all night and I hadn't been able to walk. Daddy had talked to Dr. Miriam, who had said that if I was still in the same condition the next day that I should come in for an exam and possibly an MRI. I had felt the same in the morning, so I hadn't been allowed to eat breakfast, so that they could put me to sleep for the MRI. They had also drawn blood while I was asleep. 

Daddy came back into the room, followed by a nurse. “All right, the fluids are just about done, so I'll take out your IV and look you over, and then you can go.” 

She leaned over and took some stuff out of her pocket. “There will be a little pinch when I take out the needle,” she told me.

Daddy took my other hand. “Look over here, Charlie,” he said. “Keep breathing, and squeeze my hand, okay?”

I nodded, but then I burst into tears when I felt the pain in my arm.

“It's out, all done,” the nurse said, taping a gauze pad to my arm. “Good job, sweetie.” 

“It's over, Charlie,” Daddy rubbed my back. “You're okay.” 

The nurse took my blood pressure and listened to my heart, and then said that we could go. My legs were still really weak, so I was in the wheelchair again. We went back to the hotel and stopped at a drive-through for food since I was starving. 

“So how did it go?” Uncle Sam met us at the door. 

“Charlie did fine, Dr. Miriam will call when the results come in,” Daddy said. “Hey Dad, you hungry?” he called, seeing the other door open.

Grandpa John came to the door. “What did you get?” he asked.

“A whole bucket of fried chicken?” Uncle Sam said.

“Yeah, that's what Charlie wanted.” Daddy told him. 

“How are you feeling, Charlie?” Uncle Sam asked. “you feel up to doing school work today?”

“No, I still feel all fuzzy-headed,” I said.

“I figured,” Uncle Sam smoothed my hair back from my face. “We can take a break today so that you can recover.” He wheeled me into the kitchen and helped me sit in a chair. We sat around and ate fried chicken and they talked about the case that they were helping Uncle Bobby with.

Afterwards we sat together and watched a marathon of my favorite cooking contest show, and I fell asleep on the sofa. I woke up when Daddy' phone was ringing. My head was on his thigh and I was laying on my side covered with a blanket. 

I listened to him talking to the doctor, and Uncle Sam came over and listened too. Daddy thanked her and then hung up. “She said that the MRI was normal. Your bloodwork showed low blood sugar and dehydration. She said that your muscles may get depleted of energy faster because your body is still recovering from the toxin, so you need to take extra good care of yourself and get plenty of rest and eat well.”

“Did you eat lunch yesterday?” Uncle Sam asked me. “I noticed your sandwich in the trash.”

I felt my face get red. “Uh, no,” I admitted. 

“Why not, Charlie?” Daddy asked.

“I'm tired of eating sandwiches!” I said, “I want something else for lunch!”

“Okay, but you need to tell us what you want, so we can get it for you,” Daddy said. “Think about what you want to eat, all right?” 

“It would probably be a good idea to make sure that Charlie is eating every couple of hours, and drinking.” Uncle Sam said. “We'll have to get some healthy snacks for her.” He looked at Daddy. “And you need to cut down on stuff like this,” he held up a chicken leg. 

“I know, Sam, I was getting her this as a treat because she had the MRI today,” Daddy said. “We don't eat junk that often.”

“Make sure it stays that way,” Uncle Sam said. 

That night before bed, I sat down with Daddy and we made a list of food that I liked and things I would want to eat for meals and snacks. He said he would go shopping tomorrow for everything. 

 

 

The next day was Saturday, and Ben had a game at 11:00. We drove to the park where the games were held and met him and Lisa there. I felt better, and was walking, but my legs felt a little shaky. I used my walker, and Daddy walked right next to me in case I felt weak. We set up chairs so we could all sit together and watch the game. I sat next to Grandpa John and he tried to explain the rules to me, but I had a hard time following what he was saying. Lots of people sitting around us were cheering loudly and talking. 

“Ben's got great form,” Grandpa John said to Lisa. “We had Dean in T-Ball when he was 4, and I wonder sometimes if he would have gone further than that.”

“Why didn't he?” Lisa asked.

“My wife...passed away, and...things changed afterwards.” Grandpa John said uncomfortably. 

“That's right, I'm sorry,” Lisa said softly. I saw her put her hand on Daddy's and squeeze it. Ben stepped up to the plate just then and we cheered him on.   
Ben's team won, and Lisa told us that they often went to a restaurant that served pizza after their games, so Daddy said we would join them. “How are you, Charlie, feeling okay?” he asked as we walked back to the car. 

“I'm fine,” I said. “Alls we did is sit around, I'm not tired.” 

When we got to the restaurant it was already crowded and noisy. Ben ran up to us.“Hey, we grabbed a table and saved it!” he said, beckoning us to follow him.   
“They have a couple of video games here!” he told me excitedly as we sat down. 

“Do they have Galaga?” Daddy asked. 

Ben looked at him. “How do you know about that?” he asked.

“Kid, that's old school, that's my game from when I was a kid,” Daddy told him. “In fact, if they have it, I challenge you to a game.”

Ben grinned at him. “You're on!” 

“All right, let's decide what we want before you kids go running off to play video games,” Lisa said. 

“Can I play too?” I asked, feeling a little jealous. I put my hand on Daddy's arm and he looked at me.

“Remember when we played Galaga right after we met?” I asked quietly. It made me feel funny for a moment, so much had happened since then.

“You were calling me Dean back then,” he said. He leaned down and put his forehead on mine. “I'm glad that you call me Daddy now,” he said softly. 

“Me too,” I smiled at him. 

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “All three of us can play, we'll figure it out,” he said. 

Since there were so many kids there we had to wait a long time to play the game. Daddy and Ben and I stood behind the two kids playing Galaga, waiting for them to finish. It was two boys who kept elbowing each other. One of them pushed the other one and he tripped backwards and alsmost fell into me. I was standing there with my walker, and I tried to move out of the way and started to lose my balance. 

Daddy jumped over and grabbed me, and Ben stepped up to them and said, “Hey, watch what you're doing.” 

One of the boys glanced behind him. “Get lost, Braeden.” he said. The other one laughed, and said, “Yeah, get stuffed, dickhead.”

Daddy stepped up behind them and loomed over them. “You two want to watch your mouths and yourselves? You almost knocked my daughter over.” he said in a low, stern voice. Both boys turned and looked up at him. Daddy glowered at them, and I saw both of them gulp.

“Sorry,” they both said, after looking at me. “Uh, we're done now.” They glanced at each other and hurried away. 

Ben was trying not to laugh. “Those two are such jerks,” he said. “Thanks, Dean.”

Our game was cut short because our food arrived at the table. When we sat down, Lisa was laughing and Uncle Sam was smirking. 

Daddy looked back and forth at them. “What?” he asked. “What?” 

“Dad was just telling Lisa tales of our mis-spent youth—well, tales of your mis-spent youth,” Uncle Sam said.

“Oh, no, Dad, what did you tell her?” Daddy asked, rolling his eyes.

“I had no idea you were such a player in high school, Dean,” Lisa said teasingly. 

“Let's hope Ben doesn't follow in his footsteps in that regard,” Grandpa John said with a grin. 

“What footsteps? What regard?” Ben looked at Lisa. 

“Well, with all of you here, I'm sure we can all manage to keep him on the straight-and-narrow,” Lisa chuckled. 

“What are you talking about, Mom!” Ben said with annoyance, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, Ben, watch how you talk to your Mom,” Daddy said.

“Well, it's good to know that Charlie's not the only one with a lot of sass,” Uncle Sam said. 

“I have the feeling that Charlie and Ben are going to have the two of you beat in the sass department,” Grandpa John said to Daddy and Uncle Sam. 

“Only because you wouldn't allow it,” Daddy replied. “We had a 'no sass allowed' rule when we were growing up,” he told me and Ben.

“Well, I was training you, and respect is part of that,” Grandpa John said. “I'm not sorry I did it that way, respect is a good thing.” 

“Sam's butt was sorry,” Daddy retorted, and Ben and I laughed. 

“What do you mean?” Ben asked. 

“Well, Uncle Sam was a stubborn kid, and always had to argue and have the last word. And nobody argues with John Winchester and wins. There were certain times when Sam was always getting his butt smacked because of his mouth,” Daddy grinned at Uncle Sam. “See? I can tell embarrassing stories too.” 

“Thanks, jerk,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Yeah, whatever, bitch,” Daddy mumbled. 

“Why do you guys say that to each other?” I asked. “It's not nice to call each other names.”

Daddy and Uncle Sam looked at each other and grinned.

“It's just something we've always said to each other since we were kids,” Daddy said. “It's not really name calling because there's affection there, ya know?”

“You can be bitch and I'll be jerk!” Ben said to me. 

“Uhh...no,” Lisa shook her head. “I don't think so, young man.” 

“No, not a good idea, kiddo,” Daddy chimed in. “No curse words or bad language from either of you.” He gave me, and then Ben, a look. 

“How come you guys got to call each other names?” Ben asked. 

“Well...it was different back then,” Daddy said.

“And we're telling you that you're not allowed to, and that should be enough,” Lisa said to Ben. 

“Okaaay,” Ben said, sighing. 

“Gee, where have I heard that tone before?” Uncle Sam said, and everyone laughed.

The waiter brought the check over at that point, and Daddy got out his wallet. 

 

On the way home, Daddy told me that he was going to go grocery shopping, and Grandpa John said he would go with him. Once Uncle Sam and I got back to the room, he went to check his laptop for messages about the case that they were helping Uncle Bobby with. I took out the tablet and started to play on it. 

“What are you doing?” Uncle Sam came over to me and took the tablet, staring at the screen with a frown. “Where did this game come from?” he looked up at me. 

“I, uh--” 

He looked at the screen again and I watched him tapping it. His eyebrows raised and he looked at me again. “Where did all these games come from, young lady?” his voice was stern. 

I squirmed as he stared at me. “I, uh, there's some websites that have free games to download, an' I, uh, that's where I got them from.”

“So you went on the internet on your own and found some sites and put these games on the tablet without asking me or saying anything to anyone.”

“Uh, yeah.” 

“Dammit, Charlie!” he snapped, walking over to the desk. He put the tablet down, and came back over to me. “How many times do we have to go over this? You do not go to websites on your own and just download whatever you want. I need to check them out first! And once again, you're sneaking around behind my back, playing games without my knowledge. Well, this is the last time, young lady.” he walked over and sat next to me, and then in one movement I was facedown over his lap. 

“Uncle Sam!” I yelped.

“Charlie, I've had enough of you not listening and disobeying. We've already talked about all of this more than once and the other consequences I've given you don't seem to have done anything. So maybe a spanking will get through to you.” 

“Noooo!” I howled as his hand fell on my bottom for the first time. He wrapped his arm around my waist and snugged me to his side because I was struggling so much. I tried to push my body up on the sofa and he moved so that I was hanging down and had to grab ahold of his leg. 

“No more disobedience, no more attitude, no more sassing,” Uncle Sam said as he spanked me. “You will do the work I give you in a timely fashion and not put it off. You will do good work and not be lazy about it. Is that clear?”

“Yeeeesss Uncle Saaaaaam!” I wailed, trying to squirm away from his falling palm. 

After a few more swats he stopped. “Now, I need to address you going behind my back and downloading those games on your own. You'd better never do something like that again, young lady. That's a form of lying, and it's not safe, because you don't know anything about those websites. They could have viruses or inappropriate content on them. You have to follow the rules that I have made for you, and you do not lie to me.” And then he pulled down my shorts and panties, and I squealed and tried to get off of his lap. 

“You will follow the rules, and you will not lie to me, and you will not download anything without my permission again, is that clear?” His hand fell at intervals, emphasizing certain words, and then he laid several more stinging swats down on my bare bottom, and I howled again. I felt him pulling up my panties and then he helped me up to sit in his lap. He took my chin in his hand and made me look at him.

“I am very serious about this, Charlie. If you do this again, anything with downloading games or going on the internet unsupervised, I will paddle you. Is that clear?” His eyebrows were raised and his face was stern.

“Y-es, Uncle S-sam,” my voice cracked, “M' sorry, Uncle S-sam,” I sobbed, clutching his shirt. 

“You're a smart girl, Charlie,” Uncle Sam rubbed my back. “You need to do your work and do what I tell you.”

“I w-will,” I put my arms around him. 

“And you need to do your work to the best of your ability. No more being lazy.”

“Okay,” I said, and then I buried my face in his chest and started to cry harder. 

When Mommy had gotten sick I had slacked off a lot in school, and had started to get bad grades, but then she had been too sick to go to conferences, and so my Aunt Janice had talked to the teacher, and then scolded me about not causing extra stress for Mommy. And then I had fallen behind on things and had trouble keeping up, but I had to hide it because Mommy was too sick to help me or even care. I had felt like no one cared if I got an A or a D on my tests or if I finished a project or brought home artwork. 

It was different now with Uncle Sam, he was going to be checking everything, and he wouldn't let me get away with what I did before, but it was because he cared about me. I snuggled into him and he put his arms around me and murmured soothingly until I had started to settle down.

The door opened and Daddy and Grandpa John walked in carrying plastic shopping bags.

Daddy walked quickly over to us. “What happened? What's wrong? Why is Charlie—did you spank her?” 

“Yes, Dean, I did,” Uncle Sam said calmly.

“What the hell, Sam?” Daddy yelled, suddenly angry.

“Dean, she went behind my back and downloaded games onto the tablet from all these different sites on the internet. She knows better than that and she chose to break my rules anyway. Plus she's been sassy and throwing attitude for days now. And the games were the last straw,” Uncle Sam's voice was defensive. 

“Come here, baby,” Daddy said, and I got up and went to him. He put his arm around me and I put my arms around his waist and buried my face in his side.  
“Well, you listen to me,” Daddy said, in a stony voice. “Charlie is my daughter and I don't think she should be spanked right now. She's still- she's still recovering, and I don't--”

“Dean, she's recovering just fine,” Uncle Sam interrupted him. “In fact, Imani said--”

“Sam, I'm telling you no! She's my daughter and it's my decision!” Daddy's voice was raised now.

“So, if I've already given her consequences and they haven't worked, what am I supposed to do then? Huh?” 

“You talk to me about it, and I'll decide the consequence!”

Uncle Sam scoffed. “Yeah, like you'll do anything. You've been letting her get away with an awful lot ever since-- well, since before she got out of the hospital!” 

“She's been through a rough time, and she needs to take it easy, and we need to take it easy on her too!” Daddy said.

“Dean, there's a difference between taking it easy with her and letting her get away with bad behavior. And you have been letting her get away with a lot recently.” Grandpa John spoke up. 

Daddy turned on him. “What, you too, old man? I certainly don't need any advice from 'father of the year' John Winchester.” Daddy's voice dripped with sarcasm. 

Grandpa John stepped close to Daddy. “Excuse me? Did you forget who you're talking to, boy? You do not take that tone with me! Do we need to finish this conversation outside?” His voice was a low growl.

I looked up at his angry face and at Daddy, who's face was just as angry. I got scared and burst into tears. “Stop it!” I wailed. “Don't argue any more! I'm sorry I was bad! Don't yell any more!” 

“Yeah, now you've gone and upset her even more, great,” Daddy snapped. And he leaned down and scooped me up. He carried me into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, holding me in his lap.

“Daddy, I'm sorry,” I said.

“Shh,” he shushed me. “It's all right, Charlie.” 

I looked up at him. “But Daddy, I was bad.” 

“Well, Uncle Sam didn't have to spank you,” he told me. “I'm not too happy with him about that.” 

The way Daddy was acting was a little confusing to me, because he was acting like I was still in the hospital and still hurt. But I didn't know what to say or how to say it to him. So I snuggled into him and we cuddled for a while until I started to fall asleep.


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam calls Dean out for slacking on home-schooling, ans John agrees with Sam. Oh dear!  
> *************

The next day, Sunday, everyone was quiet and grumpy. Grandpa John got a call from a friend of his and agreed to go help him with something, and Uncle Sam said he would drive.  
Grandpa John had an appointment to get his cast off in the middle of the week too- they were going to be close to the hospital where he had been treated, so they were going to stay in the area.  
Before they left, Uncle Sam showed me and Daddy what work he wanted me to do that week, and reminded us about making sure that my exercises were done every day. Besides the school work on my tablet, Uncle Sam had assigned me writing work to do every day so I could practice and make my hand stronger and my writing neater. 

 

This week had been like a vacation, with just me and Daddy. On Monday he had only made me do about an hour of school work in the afternoon and then we went to play mini golf. We met Ben and Lisa for dinner and then went to watch his practice. 

Tuesday Daddy had taken me to a movie- it was a double feature of two cartoons, and we had gotten popcorn and candy. Then Daddy and I stayed up late watching shows on t.v. and we were late to PT the next day. After I woke up from my nap and we ate lunch, I did some schoolwork, but not a whole lot. 

Thursday morning, Daddy did make me do schoolwork, but after I complained about it he said I could stop. We had to go to the grocery store anyway.   
After we went to the grocery store, we went to meet Lisa and Ben at a fast-food restaurant for dinner, and then we went to Ben's practice again. 

The regular coach wasn't there, only the assistant coach, and he asked if a couple of parents would help out with things like pitching and catching. Daddy glanced at us, and then called out, “Sure, I'll give it a try.” He stood up and walked over to the kids grouped around the assistant coach. I watched as he chatted for a couple of minutes, and then he stood behind home plate and would catch the balls that hadn't been hit, and throw them back to the pitcher. 

Lisa looked at me. “You know, you don't have to be jealous,” she said.

“Uh- what do you mean?” I asked.

“I'm sure you get a little worried that Ben is going to supplant you with Dean, but I can assure you that that's not going to happen,” she smiled at me, “Your Dad loves you very much, I can tell by they way he looks at you. And nothing will lessen that, not another person or anything.”

I felt myself blushing. “How...how does he look at me?” I asked.

“Like you're his whole world. And that's the way it should be. I never thought I'd see Dean like that, he's a good guy, but he's always...held a part of himself back. But he doesn't do that with you, and I think that you've changed him, and that's a good thing. He loves you so much, sweetie.” She put her hand on my arm and patted me. I felt tears come to my eyes and blinked them away. It was nice of her to say that, and it made me feel good. She continued to talk to me as we watched Ben's practice, asking me about what I was studying in home schooling and telling me about Ben's school. Finally practice was over, and Daddy and Ben came walking over to us. 

“Want to go out for ice cream?” Daddy asked, looking at Lisa. 

“Yeah, can we, Mom?” Ben asked. 

“Well...all right,” Lisa said. “We can't stay out too late, you've got school in the morning.” 

As we started to walk over to the parking lot, Ben looked up at Daddy suddenly. “Hey Dean,” he said shyly, “Can I ride with you?”

Daddy looked over at Lisa and raised his eyebrows. “That okay with you?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Sure...behave yourself, Ben,” she told him. 

Daddy opened the back door or the Impala and I climbed in, and Ben slid in next to me. 

“Wow, leather!” he said, bouncing on the seat. 

Daddy got behind the wheel and turned to look back at us. “What do you think, Ben?” he asked with a grin.

“Really cool!” Ben replied with a matching grin. “You've fixed it up nice!”

“Thanks, I try to keep her in tip-top shape,” Daddy said. “If you're interested, next time I give her a tune up, you can help,” he glanced at us in the mirror. “Well, you can help me and Charlie, she's my number-one helper,” he smiled at me. 

Ben slid forward on the seat and asked Daddy questions about the car engine the whole time we were driving. He looked around at everything in the car and ran his hands over the door handles and the ashtray. “Hey, there's an army man in here! Wow, it's really stuck!” 

“Yeah, Sammy put that in there when we were kids,” Daddy told him, “He really shoved it in there good.” 

When he pulled into the parking lot, he turned around to look at us. He had a funny little smile on his face. “Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when my kids were in the back seat of Baby,” he said. “Sammy and I spent so much time back there...” 

Lisa walked over to us just then and we got out of the car.

We were at a roadside stand that sold ice cream made from “farm fresh milk”. It was attached to a big farm next to it, and they had a couple of huge old farm vehicles like tractors that kids could climb on, with all the dangerous parts taken off. 

An elderly couple walked past us, and the woman smiled and said, “You have such a beautiful family!” 

I saw Daddy and Lisa look at each other and smile. She put her hand on Daddy's, and then smiled at the woman and said, “Thank you!” 

“Hey, let's go play on the tractors and stuff,” Ben said to me. “Want to?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, finishing my cone.

“Wipe your mouth off- use a napkin, not your sleeve!” Lisa said quickly to Ben, handing him one. 

He wiped his mouth off and tossed the napkin onto the table. “C'mon, Charlie!” he said.

“Charlie,” Daddy called as we started to walk away. I turned to look at him. “Be careful,” he said.

“I will, Daddy,” I said. I followed Ben over and we started to climb around on the equipment. There were a couple of other kids there too, and they were nice and letting everyone have turns.

Once I glanced over at Daddy and Lisa and they were leaning kindof close together and looking in each other's eyes. I was going to keep watching but then one of the others kids got in front of me. The next time I looked over, they were watching us, and Daddy saw me looking over, and smiled at me. 

That night when he tucked me in, he said, “I hope you've had a good week. I wanted to give you a little bit of a break, since Sam's been kinda of hardas- I mean he's been working you so hard.”

I put my arms around his neck. “I had fun with you this week, Daddy,” I told him. “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Hmm, I don't know,” he said. “Let's play it by ear,” he kissed my forehead and I laid back in the bed. He pulled the covers up.

“I love you Daddy,” I murmured.

“I love you too, baby,” he said, smoothing my hair back from my face. He got up and left the room, leaving the door opened partway. 

 

 

The next day Daddy took me to PT in the morning. I was so tired at the end that I fell asleep in the car almost as soon as Daddy pulled out of the parking lot. When I woke up on my bed, I could hear more than one familiar voice in the other room, and it wasn't the t.v. I got out of bed and ran out to the living room area, where Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were. They had come home! 

“Uncle Sam!” I said, running to him and throwing my arms around him. 

“Hi, Charlie,” he said happily, leaning down to hug me. “How are you doing?”

“I'm okay,” I said, “I missed you!” 

I heard him chuckle, and he kissed the top of my head, then straightened up and let me go. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Grandpa John said with a smile, opening his arms to me, and I went over to him. He picked me up in a hug and kissed the side of my head, then set me down and ruffled my hair. 

“Why are you limping?” Uncle Sam asked. 

I turned to him. “Huh?” 

“You're limping a little bit,” He frowned, and looked over at Daddy. “Did she hurt herself?”

I shrugged. “No, I was just real tired from PT today.” 

“How did the week go?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“Fine,” I said, hoping he wouldn't ask me about my schoolwork. I felt a little bit guilty just then, because I hadn't done half the work he had planned out for me. He was going to be angry with me. 

“We've got to do laundry today, and I can't wait to take a shower,” Uncle Sam stretched. “The water pressure in the room where we stayed was awful, it was like a little trickle.” 

I looked over at Grandpa John. “You got your cast off!” I said, and he smiled at me.

“Yeah, I did. The doctor says I'm all better!” 

“You've still got to take it easy and do those exercises he gave you, Dad,” Uncle Sam reminded him.

“I know, Sam. I've got some PT too, we can exercise together!” Grandpa John said to me. 

“Your writing should be getting better,” Uncle Sam walked over to the desk, where the tablet and my other schoolwork was. He shuffled through some papers, and looked at them for a moment. Then he turned, and looked at me. 

“Why didn't you do any of this?” he asked. 

“I, uh--” I felt myself blushing. “I, uh, I didn't think about it.” 

Uncle Sam turned. “Dean, were you having her do her work every day and checking things over?” he frowned. He picked up the tablet and turned it on, and I gulped nervously. This was it, I was going to get into trouble. At least I wasn't going to get a spanking, because Daddy had said so. 

I watched as Uncle Sam scrolled through different pages on the tablet. When he looked up, he looked mad. “Young lady, what do you have to say about this?” he asked sternly. “Did you do your school work every day?” he asked.

“Uh...no,” I said, feeling my face get red again. 

“And why not?” 

“Cause I wanted a break...and sometimes we did other stuff.” I whispered. 

“You did other stuff? What do you mean?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“Like one day we played mini golf.” I said, and Daddy spoke up, “I took her out a couple times to do some fun things, and we went to Ben's practices.”

Uncle Sam looked over at Daddy. “So you just decided to do your own thing, and completely ignore the schedule that I set up for her schoolwork.” 

Daddy shrugged. “C'mon, Sammy, she didn't work too hard for a couple days, she'll catch up.” 

“Dude, that's not the point, and you know it! We've talked about this before, Charlie needs to get used to being on a schedule and doing a certain amount of work each day!”

“Geez, would you let it go, man? It's not like-”

“Dean, if she we going to regular school, she would have gotten in trouble over this. Not doing her assignments every day? You'd be getting a note home from her teacher. And skipping out on school to go do fun things? The teacher would have something to say about that and you know it,” Sam glared at Daddy, “I can't believe you, that you'd just let this fall by the wayside like this. You know how important I think education is, and how important I think it is that Charlie get used to this! Everything you've done this week is not helping that! If anything it's probably set her back!” 

“Dean, I have to agree with Sam here,” Grandpa John said. “Isn't Charlie going to have to take tests at the end of the year to prove she's been doing work and not just playing around?”

“Yeah, but that's at the end of the year. She'll catch up, she knows what she's doing,” Daddy said easily, “She's a smart girl.”

“Dean, again, that's not the point! She's 8 years old, and you can't expect her to just do everything on her own. You have to supervise her and check over her work, and not just let her go and let things go. And you can't just let her take breaks whenever she wants and not do the work because she doesn't feel like it.” 

“Stop talking about me like I'm not here!” I said loudly, feeling annoyed. “I'm right here ya know!” 

“Don't start with the attitude, young lady,” Uncle Sam said, and at the same time Grandpa John said, “Watch your mouth, little girl.” 

Uncle Sam focused on me. “I'm very disappointed, Charlie, that you didn't do the work that I gave you every day.” 

“She gets tired easily,” Daddy said, “I let her take breaks when she was tired.” 

Uncle Sam shook his head. “I think you're just making excuses.”

I looked up at him. “I—I did get tired, I wasn't just saying that!” 

He shook his head. “If you were that tired than you should have been taking more naps and going to bed earlier. And that's also your Dad's job,” he glared at Daddy again. “Looks like you slacked on all kinds of things this week,” he said in a hard voice. 

“Sam, I treated this week like a little bit of a vacation. So I didn't make her do a lot of work, so what? I wanted to--”

“Dean, you are so missing the point of everything! I gave you- and Charlie- a list of assignments to be done, every day, and you didn't have her do them. You just went off and did your own thing without letting me know that that was what you planned to do, and when we talked during the week you lied to me about it!” Uncle Sam's voice was loud and angry.

“You've been lying about this to your brother?” Grandpa John's voice sounded angry too.

“When I'd ask him how Charlie's work was going he'd just say, 'fine' and change the subject,” Uncle Sam told him. 

Grandpa John looked at Daddy, and his face was now angry. “You screwed up here, Dean. This is not how we do things, and you know it.”

“Dad-” Daddy started.

“I don't want to hear any more excuses from you! You need to sit down and think about what you've done this week and how your actions have affected Charlie, and everything else,” Grandpa John turned and stalked out of the room, walking into his room and closing the door hard.

Daddy scrubbed his hand over his face and looked at Uncle Sam. “Look, I'm sor--”

“Save it,” Uncle Sam snapped, “I don't want to hear anything else right now either.” He set the tablet on the desk and walked over to the door, going into this room and closing the door hard just like Grandpa John had done.

I walked over to Daddy and threw my arms around his waist. “I'm sorry, Daddy,” I said, looking up at him.

He looked down at me and put his hand on my head. “What are you sorry for, baby? You didn't do anything wrong.”

“I'm sorry they're being mean to you. We-- I had fun with you this week,” I hugged him. 

He put his arms around me. “I had fun with you too, sweetheart. Uncle Sam needs to take a chill pill.”

I giggled. 

“You'll get back into the swing of things with no problem, and you'll catch up in no time,” he said confidently. 

Daddy and I sat down to watch a movie together, and a short time later Uncle Sam came out of the room with a mesh bag full of clothes.  
“Either of you have any dirty laundry?” he asked. “I can throw it in with ours.”

“Nah, we're good,” Daddy told him. 

Dinner that night was tense. Daddy ordered pizza, and went out to buy some beer, and everyone sat around eating quietly. They took the beers that Daddy gave them, though, so maybe they weren't that mad any more. 

Uncle Sam wiped his mouth off and put the napkin on his plate. “We're going to have to work extra hard this coming week, Charlie,” he said to me, “I want to get you back on track and make sure you're all caught up.” 

“Okay, Uncle Sam,” I agreed. 

 

I woke up in the morning hearing all three of them talking in the living room. “Daddy!” I called, rolling over and stretching in bed. Daddy came over to the bed and picked me up, carrying me out to the living room and sitting on the sofa with me in his lap.

“You're carrying her, Dean?” Uncle Sam asked dryly. 

“Sure, Sammy,” Daddy said easily, “We have a snuggle in the morning while she's waking up.” He smoothed my hair back from my face as I leaned against his chest, yawning. 

“Charlie is not a morning person,” Grandpa John remarked with a grin.

“It would help if I could have some coffee,” I grumped, “I used to be allowed to have coffee, ya know.” 

Uncle Sam and Daddy both laughed. “Oh, you're breaking my heart, Charlie,” Uncle Sam grinned at me, “Wouldn't you rather have orange juice?”

“You know I hate orange flavored stuff!” I snapped. 

Uncle Sam raised his hands. “Okay, okay, geez,” he said. “What time is Ben's game?”

“It's at 10 today, so you'd better get a move on, Charlie,” Daddy patted my back. “What do you want for breakfast?” 

“Do we have any waffles left?” I asked, getting up. 

“I'll go and check,” Daddy stood up. I went back to the bedroom and got dressed while Daddy made me waffles in the toaster.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Dean come to a resolution about home-schooling, and Charlie's bad behavior continues...  
> ********

The sidelines of the baseball field were packed when we got there. Lisa had set up a couple of chairs, and waved us over to her. “This is an important game,” she told us, “This is the third year they've played this team, and the other two times they lost. The boys are feeling a lot of pressure.” 

I tried to pay attention, but I got bored. I still didn't understand the rules of baseball and couldn't follow along with what was happening. I pulled out my 3DS and started playing it. 

Uncle Sam leaned over. “That's new,” he lifted up the purse that was hanging off my shoulder and looked at it.

I glanced at him. “Yeah, when Daddy and I went out last week he bought me a new Hello Kitty purse 'cause the strap broke on the other one. This one has more pockets inside!” 

“Don't you want to watch the game and support Ben?” Uncle Sam asked. 

“I don't get it,” I said, “I don't understand the rules and I'm bored.” 

“Don't you remember, Charlie, I explained that each player has to run around and tag each base as they run by, and--” Grandpa John started to explain.

“I know what you told me, but I said, I still don't get it!” I snapped, “I can't keep all the rules straight!” 

Grandpa John frowned at me. “Little girl, you need to watch your tone--” he started, and then everyone around us jumped up and started yelling and clapping because someone had made a 'homer run' or something like that and a bunch of kids were running around the field. 

Unfortunately Ben's team lost. The boys on the other team all seemed bigger and older and better at baseball. Ben struck out twice, which wasn't a good thing.   
After their coach had had a talk with everyone, Ben walked over to us looking dejected. His shoulders were slumped. 

“Look, Ben, Charlie and everyone came to watch!” Lisa said. 

Ben glanced at me. “Hey,” he said, “Man, that sucked.”

Lisa put her hand on his back. “I know it was rough, sweetie, there's always next time.” 

“I noticed you were pulling back right before you swung, Ben,” Grandpa John said, “Maybe we can practice your stance--”

“I don't want to think about that right now, geez!” Ben snapped.

“Hey, Ben watch your mouth!” Daddy said sternly.

“Young man, you don't talk to adults that way! Apologize!” Lisa frowned at him.

Ben glanced at Grandpa John. “Sorry,” he muttered. 

“Well, we were going to go get some lunch, do we still want to?” Lisa asked. 

“Sure,” Daddy said after a moment, “If we go to that pizza place with the video games, I challenge you to a game,” he bumped elbows with Ben. 

“I guess,” Ben sighed. He noticed my 3DS. “Hey, cool, what games you got?” he asked. I dropped my stylus, and we both bent to pick it up, and our hands touched. 

As I stood back up, I saw Ben holding a trophy, with a gold medal around his neck, and he had a huge smile on his face.

“It doesn't matter that you lost this game, you're gonna win at the end,” I blurted out, “You're gonna get a trophy and a medal!”

Ben blinked in surprise. “What do you mean?” he asked. Everyone turned to look at me.

“I saw it, Ben, First Place! That's what the medal said!” 

He looked mad. “Are you making fun of me?” he snapped.

“No!” I was confused, “Why would you--” 

“Our team sucks this season, we're not gonna win jack shi--”

“Benjamin!” Lisa interrupted him, smacking the back of his head, “Watch your mouth! And there's no need to take your frustration out on Charlie, she's trying to be nice!” 

“I saw it, Ben,” I explained, “I see stuff that comes true.”

“You can't know that, so stop trying to make me feel better!” Ben snapped. “We're not gonna win anything!” He turned and stomped away. 

“We'll meet you over at the restaurant, okay?” Lisa said to Daddy, and then she hurried after Ben, calling his name. 

I started to cry. “Why was he acting like that? I wasn't making it up, I thought he'd be happy!”

Daddy leaned down and hugged me. “He's really upset about this game, I think.” 

“And sometimes when a person is upset it's hard for them to hear anything nice that someone else is saying,” Uncle Sam said. 

Daddy swung me up onto his hip and hugged me again, then started to walk to the car. 

I saw Uncle Sam look at Grandpa John and shake his head as they followed us. 

We went to a restaurant that sold Greek and Italian food and subs. When we got to at the table, Lisa said, “Ben has something he wants to say to you, Charlie.” 

Ben stepped over to me and said, “Uh, sorry I was mean before, that was rude of me, and I'm sorry.” 

“It's okay, Ben,” I said, sitting down, “Wanna see the games I have on here?” I pulled my 3DS out and he sat down next to me. I started to show him the little cartoons I had made with the game where you made drawings and then put them all together into a little movie. 

“Hey, you two, we've been trying to get your attention for the past couple of minutes. Put that down for a moment and decide what you want,” Daddy said to us.

“Hold on a sec,” I said, “Watch this, Ben, this one's funny!” 

Daddy leaned over to me. “Charlie, pause your game so we can order our food.” 

“Okayokay!” I snapped. 

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows. Daddy gave me a look. “Watch it, little girl,” he said.

We decided to get a pizza, and Grandpa John and Daddy were going to get subs. Uncle Sam said he wanted a Greek salad, and then he said to me, “Charlie, I want you to get a salad too.”

“Salad's gross,” Ben said, wrinkling his nose.

“Yeah, I don't want one right now,” I shook my head. 

“Charlie, I want you to get one, you haven't had any vegetables since we've gotten home,” Uncle Sam said.

“But I don't want one, Uncle Sam!” I whined. I looked at Daddy. “Daaaaddy, do I haaaave to?”

“Yeah, you should, kiddo,” Daddy told me, “Sam's right, you haven't had much recently.” 

“But I don't want any dumb salad!” I slammed my 3DS onto the table. 

“You want to lose your 3DS? Keep that up,” Uncle Sam said sternly. 

I looked over at Daddy again. He looked uncomfortable. “C'mon, kiddo, drop the attitude,” he said, “Having a salad's not a big deal.” 

“But Daddyyyy--”

“Charlie, stop arguing with everyone. Dean, just order it for her,” Grandpa John said sternly. 

“Everyone is picking on me today!” I wailed, and started to cry again. 

“Oh, Charlie,” Daddy sighed, “No one is picking on you. Come here,” he pulled me over to him and I got onto his lap. He put his arms around me and I stayed there until our food arrived at the table. 

I only ate a couple of bites of salad, and then I pretended that it fell onto the floor, but I really pushed it with my elbow. 

“Oh, should we order another one?” Lisa asked.

“She ate some of it, it's fine,” Daddy said easily. His arm was on the back of her chair. When I looked up I saw Uncle Sam watching me, and he pressed his lips together and shook his head slightly. 

 

 

“I don't wanna do any work, it's Sunday!” I complained. 

“You need to do your exercises, and I want you to do some writing practice. That needs to be done every day right now,” Uncle Sam pulled out a writing pad and my pencil box. 

“But I don't wannaaaaa!” I whined. 

“Charlie, enough with the whining, geez,” Uncle Sam rubbed his forehead,“Look, write this sentence 10 times for me so I can see how you're doing.” 

I sighed angrily. “Fine,” I snapped, “But I get a break after this!” 

“We'll see,” he said firmly. 

I started to write. “This is making my hand hurt!” I complained. 

“Because you're out of practice,” Uncle Sam told me, “This is why it's important for you to do this every day. Would you rather do some hand exercises? Imani gave me the putty and the squeeze ball.”

“I don't want to do anything!” I shoved the paper away from me and crossed my arms. “Daddy said we could go to the park, and that's what I want to do!” 

“Sure, after you get through this.” Uncle Sam said reasonably. 

“But if I do exercise, I'll be too tired to go to the park!”

“The park is exercise too, Charlie. I think I see what's going on here, you just want to do what you want to do, and not what someone tells you. Well, that's going to change, honey. In the real world people have to do what they're told, and if you were at real school you'd have to do what the teacher told you and not whatever you want. You should know this already.” 

“But I'm not in real school! I can do what I want!” 

Uncle Sam leaned over and looked me in the eyes. “No, you can't. We've already talked about this, Charlie. You're being home-schooled; that means I give you assignments and tell you what to do and you do it. You don't get to decide that you're not in the mood or that you don't want to do it. You can do the work I give you, or you can refuse, and then do the work I give you with a sore butt. But you will do your work.” 

Daddy had come into the room at that point, and I got up and ran over to him, putting my arms around his waist. “Daddy, Uncle Sam said he's gonna spank me!” I whined. 

“Sam, what are you doing?” Daddy sounded tired and annoyed. 

“Dean, I'm establishing again that Charlie needs to do the work she's given. She's being home-schooled, that means I'm her teacher and she has to abide by my rules and what I tell her to do.” 

“You don't need to be threatening her--”

“Dean, there have to be consequences too,” Sam said. 

“Well, spanking is not going to be one of them,” Daddy said resolutely, “So cut it out with that shit.” 

Uncle Sam sighed with annoyance. “Charlie, which is it? Writing or exercises?”

“Fine, I'll write the dumb sentences!” I snapped. 

“And you can lose the attitude as well,” Uncle Sam said as I walked back over to the desk.

I plunked myself into the chair again and picked up the pencil, then I started to scribble the words quickly. Uncle Sam put his hand on top of mine, stopping me. I looked up at him and he leaned down again, into my face. 

“All right, Charlie,” he said in a quiet, hard voice, “I've had just about enough. Time out.” 

I tried to pull my hand away from him. “Stooop,” I whined.

He let go of me, and then picked up the chair with me in it and turned it around so that it wasn't under the desk. I forgot how strong he was!

“Sit here for 8 minutes, and then you can finish the work.” 

I kicked the rungs of the chair. “No, Uncle Sam! That's not fair!” 

He stood up. “Young lady, you don't tell me no,” he said sternly. He looked over at Daddy. “Are you seeing this?” he asked. 

“Charlie, do what Uncle Sam tells you to do,” Daddy said, “Quit all the fussing.” 

“No fair!” I said again, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting. I sat quietly but I kicked the rungs of the chair the whole time. Uncle Sam's jaw was clenched by the time he said, “All right, time out is over. Let's come back to this, and do your floor exercises.” 

“Daddy, when can we go to the park?” I asked, “You said we could go!” 

“Do your exercises, and we can go after.” he said. 

“But then I'll be too tired to go to the park!” I protested. 

“Then we can go after you've rested.”

“But I want to go now!” I complained. 

“You sound like that girl from the Willy Wonka movie, next you'll be asking me for a golden goose,” Daddy chuckled, “Do your exercises, and we'll go later.”

“But--”

“Charlotte Anne, stop arguing!” Uncle Sam snapped, “Do you realize that's all you've done? Just do what you're told, for cryin' out loud!” He walked over to the corner and pulled out the mat, laying it out on the floor. “Come over here and start stretching,” he told me. 

I looked at Daddy. “Go on, little girl,” he said, but he didn't sound mad. I got up and walked over, sitting down on the mat, and started to do the warm-up stretches that Imani had taught me. 

I did get tired after exercising, and so I took a nap. After we had dinner- Uncle Sam made baked chicken breasts and steamed green beans and mashed potatoes- we walked to the park. I walked between Daddy and Uncle Sam and held their hands. 

There weren't very many kids there, and so I got to be on the swings for a long time. I didn't do much else since I was still feeling a little tired from exercising earlier. 

I walked over to Uncle Sam and Daddy sitting on a bench that was under a tree.

“Whatcha got there?” Daddy asked me.

“I found this feather over there,” I turned and pointed across the playground. I had found a long, large white feather on the other side of the playground, on the edge where the grass started.

Uncle Sam took it from me and looked at it. “That's pretty big, I wonder what kind of bird it's from. I didn't think there were any large birds of prey around here.”

I shrugged. “It's pretty...can I keep it?”

“I guess,” Daddy said. 

“Just make sure you wash your hands after you handle it,” Uncle Sam told me. “How are you doing?”

“I'm tired, I want to go,” I said. 

“All right,” Daddy stood up. “You got a lot of exercise today, you want a piggy back ride?” 

“Yeah!” I said. He leaned down and Uncle Sam helped me get onto Daddy's back. 

I put the feather on the dresser in the bedroom when we got back to the room, and then Daddy said I should take a bath.

 

During the exercise class with the kids on Monday, I saw Uncle Sam standing over to the side, talking to Imani. They talked for a long time. He looked upset when he came over to get me at the end of class. Because I hadn't done much exercising last week, I was more tired than usual. I was limping by the time we left the building. Uncle Sam stopped at the curb and looked down at me. I was hurting, and almost crying. His face was angry, but he asked gently, “What's the matter, honey?”

“I'm sore,” I whimpered, “An' I'm real tired now.”

He leaned down and picked me up, setting me on his hip. I put my arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder.

“What's wrong, Uncle Sam?” I asked, “You look mad.” 

He shook his head. “Don't worry about it, I need to...talk to your Dad.”

I curled up in the back seat of the car and fell asleep almost right away. 

I woke up in my bed, hearing loud voices. 

“You want me to admit I screwed up?” Daddy yelled, “Fine, I screwed up! But this was only 5 days that she didn't do much, and I fail to see how that's going to affect her 10 years from now!” 

The bedroom door was partway open and I heard quick footsteps.

“Well, Dean, you did screw up, and you've got to face that!” Uncle Sam's voice was hard, “You wanted to have a little vacation with Charlie, fine, but because you weren't having her do her exercises every day, you've set her recovery back! And that's what's important! She's limping again, I know you noticed that before, and she was in so much pain after PT today that she was almost crying! That's a direct result of you not having her do her exercises and PT last week! I know you think my whole deal with her schedule and home-schooling is bullshit, but this isn't. This is her health, man, and you screwed up, big time.” 

I heard an exhalation and then Daddy said, “Dammit.” I heard the fridge door open and close and the hiss of a bottle top being removed. “I didn't think-- I mean I didn't realize that that would happen... you'd said that she was doing really well and that Imani was really happy with Charlie's progress, so I thought...” he sighed heavily, “The last thing I want to do is hurt my little girl,” he said, “Shit, I didn't think it through, I was just trying to give her a fun time last week. She had such a rough time in the hospital, and I know she associates the exercises with all of that--”

“No, Dean, I think you associate that. She likes to do the exercises, it puts her in a good mood,” Uncle Sam said. “You need to look at your motivation for doing what you've been doing.” 

“Dammit, Sam, why do you have to be right about shit like this?” Daddy asked, but there was humor in his voice, “and look, I don't think the schedule and the home-schooling is bullshit, I just...think you're a little over-zealous with it.” 

“Well, I think I have a right to be pissed off,” Uncle Sam said, “I gave Charlie- and you- specific instructions for last week, and you went and changed everything. She should have been doing what I told her to do, but you're her father, so of course she's going to do what you tell her. And yeah she had fun, but it wasn't what she was supposed to be doing. Do you get that now?”

“Okay, yeah, I do,” Daddy said, “I'm sorry, Sam, I did mess things up, and Charlie paid the price, and it's not her fault. It's my fault.”

“I'm glad you finally agree with me, and that we're on the same page,” Uncle Sam said.

“All right, well you don't have to rub it in, bitch,” Daddy said.

“I'm not, jerk. But listen, I need you to back me on the home-schooling.” 

“I will back you on the home-schooling, but if I think she needs a break I'm still going to say something.”

“Fair enough. And while we're talking about that, what consequences are going to be okay to give her?” 

“Well, I guess time out, and taking away her 3DS. Writing lines isn't going to work because she's having trouble with that right now, and she already goes to bed earlier and takes naps. I mean I guess we could also send her to bed earlier as a consequence.”

“And take away t.v. priviledges, or grounding to the bed room.” Uncle Sam said. 

“Geez, Sam, why do you want to pile on the consequences?” Daddy asked.

“I'm not, we talked about this before, remember? How certain consequences will work better because they're more immediate. Different situations will call for different consequences and we need to have a few to pick from.”

I tried to get out of bed, so I could go out there and protest, I didn't want all those consequences, it wasn't fair! I tried to hurry over to the door and tripped over my feet and fell down. The door swung open and Daddy came in.

“Charlie, are you okay?” he hurried over to me and squatted down, “What are you doing?”

“I woke up and heard you talking! I don't want-- all those consequences, it's not faaaaair!” I looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“Charlie, you need to do what you're told,” Daddy said, helping me stand up.

“But you said- you said that I need to take it easy and that everyone needs to take it easy on me too!” I reminded him.

“Oh, boy,” Uncle Sam said from the doorway. He rolled his eyes.

“I meant that we can't expect you to do every single thing that a regular kid can do yet because you're still recovering, and yes we do need to take it easy, but there are still going to be times when you need a consequence. You're getting your sass back, and we need to keep that in check,” Daddy tweaked my nose.

“I think you're the only one who thinks that's funny, Dean” Uncle Sam said dryily.

“Do you want to get up or try to go back to sleep?” Daddy asked me. 

“I want to get up,” I said.

Uncle Sam glanced at his watch. “She slept for less than an hour, she may end up getting grumpy later.” 

Daddy picked me up. “Then we'll just have to tickle the grumps out of her!” he tickled the side of my neck and I giggled. He had discovered last week that my neck was very ticklish. He carried me out to the kitchen area and set me down in a chair. 

“It's about time for lunch, what do you want?” he asked me.

“Mac and cheese,” I told him. Uncle Sam walked over to the table. Daddy put the measuring cup filled with water in the microwave. He set the little cup in front of me.

“This is the last one,” he told me, “I need to go to the store and get some more.”

Uncle Sam picked up the blue cup. “Microwave mac and cheese?” he raised his eyebrows. “This isn't very healthy.”

“Yeah, I know, but she likes it,” Daddy smiled at me. “She eats a good breakfast and a healthy dinner.” 

“Hmm,” Uncle Sam said. “I'd like to see her- and you- eating better for all meals.” 

“Well, how about you take over the cooking then?” Daddy asked in a challenging way. 

“Fine, I will,” Uncle Sam said.

After we ate lunch, Uncle Sam looked at me. “You ready to do some schoolwork?” 

I sighed. “I guess,” I said forlornly. 

I followed him over to the desk in the living room and we sat down next to each other. Uncle Sam didn't get up and let me do the work on my own, he sat with me and watched over me. It started to get on my nerves. 

“Uncle Sam, do you have to keep watching me?” I asked when he leaned over and started to point out what I was doing wrong on my math page.

“Yes, Charlie, I do,” he told me, “Remember, we need to work extra hard to get you back up to speed since you didn't do much last week.”

“I need a break,” I whined. 

“Charlie,” Uncle Sam sighed with annoyance. 

“Sam, she's been working for an hour now, why don't you let her have a little break,” Daddy said. 

“All right, 15 minutes,” Uncle Sam said, rubbing his forehead. 

I got up and went back to the kitchen. “I'm hungry,” I said, “Can I have cookies?”

“Sure, “ Daddy pulled out a container of chocolate chip cookies we had bought last week. “These are almost gone, we'll need to go to the store and restock everything.” Daddy was putting away the clean dishes and loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. 

“I think I should be the one to go, and I'll make sure I get healthy options instead of cookies and microwaveable stuff,” Uncle Sam said. 

Grandpa John walked into the room. “Sam, I need you to look at the laptop,” he said. Uncle Sam got up, and as he walked across the room he said, “Fifteen minutes and then I want you to keep working on your math.” He went into the other bedroom to help Grandpa John.

I walked over to the couch and sat down, turning on the t.v. I ate cookies and found one of the cartoon shows I liked. In a while, Uncle Sam walked back into the room. He stood by the t.v. and then reached down and turned it off.

“Hey!” I said.

He looked at me. “Didn't I tell you to start your work after 15 minutes? It's been longer than that.”

“Yeah, well you weren't here, I didn't know--”

“Charlie. We are doing work right now, not taking long breaks and watching t.v. You know better than that,” Uncle Sam's voice was hard. He pointed at the desk. “Go sit down and get started.” 

“It's not my fault!” I grumped as I stood up. I slammed the remote on the table. 

“And that just lost you t.v. watching for tonight,” Uncle Sam said.

I stopped walking and stomped my foot. “No fair!” 

“Perfectly fair,” Uncle Sam said, “You weren't supposed to be watching t.v.”

“But Daddy said it was okay-”

“Hey, don't bring me into this,” Daddy said from the kitchen, “I didn't say anything about t.v., Charlie.”

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows. “Oh, so now you're lying, Charlie?” 

My stomach twisted nervously. “No, I didn't-- I mean—I just need a longer break!” I whined, “I'm not used to doing all this work for such a long time!” 

“Young lady, I don't want to hear it,” Uncle Sam said angrily, “Stop complaining, and get over here.” 

I ran over to Daddy instead and threw my arms around him. “Can't I take a break?” I asked.

“You did, sweetheart,” he said, looking down at me, “You need to get back to work now though, and I'm not real happy about the lying,” he frowned at me.  
Uncle Sam scoffed. “I can't believe you're letting the lying go, Dean,” he said, “If that was Dad, we'd have sore butts and you know it.” 

“Well like you've told me, I'm not him, and neither are you,” Daddy retorted. He patted my back. “Go on and do your work now.”

I trudged over to the desk and sat down again, sighing heavily. I didn't like that I was going to have to do more work, or that they were talking about consequences again!


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> John has a talk with Dean about being a parent...and someone has had enough of Charlie and her sass and misbehavior, and yes, she gets spanked in this chapter...  
> *************

Daddy and I were at Ben's practice, and Lisa turned to me and said, “So, Charlie, my work is sponsoring a 'Mother and Daughter Day' at a local spa, would you like to come with me? You can get manicures, pedicures, a facial, or a mini- massage and they're going to have ice cream there.”

I felt uncomfortable. “Uh, I dunno,” I said.

Daddy saw my face and leaned over to me. “Is it because of what happened before?” he asked me quietly. 

I glanced at him and nodded. 

He sat up and explained, “Charlie had a...bad experience with her aunt and getting a manicure, right after her Mom...passed away.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Lisa said, “Well, I thought I would let you know, but if you don't want to, that's perfectly understandable. We can find something else to do together if you want. You need a break from being around all those men!” she winked at me.

“We can go to the thing,” I said, feeling brave suddenly, “I'll try it.”

“Good, It's next week,” Lisa said. “I'll double check the day and time and let you know, Dean.” 

We stood up and started to close up the chairs as Ben came walking over. “Can we go over to the playground?” he asked. 

“No, Ben, you've got to work on that project, remember? I told you that we were going to come right home after practice today,” Lisa said to him.

“Hey, can we go out for ice cream? Don' cha want to, Charlie?” Ben appealed to me.

“Ben--”

“Pleeeeease, Mom!” Ben whined, frowning at her.

“What did I just say--”

“Why do you gotta be so mean?” Ben yelled suddenly, throwing his catcher's mitt on the ground.

I turned on him. “Don't yell at your mom!” I yelled at him, “She's not mean! At least- at least you have a mom!” I turned to Lisa and threw my arms around her waist, feeling tears come to my eyes. I missed my mom all of a sudden. 

Lisa put her arms around me and hugged me. “Aww, sweetie,” she said, patting my back. 

I let go of her and looked up at her. “I think you're nice,” I said hoarsely, and she smiled and took my hands, giving them a quick squeeze. Then in a flash I saw her talking on the phone to someone, saying, “I think I got passed over again” and then her walking into an office where a man was sitting behind a desk. 

“You didn't get passed over, you're going to get the promotion,” I blurted, and then I stepped backwards, feeling my face get red. 

“What?” she asked, frowning a little bit. 

“Sorry, I-- I saw it,” I explained, “I saw you talking on the phone and then going into an office with a bald man sitting behind a desk. You're going to get the promotion this time.”

She gave a short laugh. “That's my boss. Well, I hope it's true,” she said. 

Ben was looking at the ground and shuffling his feet. “Sorry, Mom,” he said sulkily. 

“Let's go, young man,” she said to him. She and Daddy picked up the chairs and we walked over to the cars. 

“We'll see you soon,” Lisa said. 

“Bye, Ben,” I called. 

He had gotten into the car already. 

She shook her head. “He's been in a mood since the game, and he's been dragging his feet on this project too,” she told us, “sorry about his behavior.” 

“I'm fine, I'm more concerned with you,” Daddy said. 

Lisa laughed. “Oh, I can handle my son. If he keeps it up he's going to go to bed with a sore behind. See you later, Dean.” 

We got into the car and Daddy turned around in the front seat and looked at me with raised eyebrows. 

“Are you okay?” he questioned.

“Yeah, why?” I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden. 

“You looked like you were expecting to get yelled at.” 

“Well, I uh, it just seems to, you know, I can't stop it. And when Ben got mad at me before it made me feel bad,” I looked down at my hands in my lap.

“Not everyone is going to react the same, but you have to remember that you're not going to get into trouble, and it's all right,” He reached back to cup my cheek. “You sure you're okay? I wasn't expecting you to respond that way to Ben.” 

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. He sat there looked in me for a long moment, then shrugged. “If you want to talk, I'm here,” he turned around and started the car.

 

We went through a drive-through for dinner because Daddy wanted to go to the grocery store, and said that we shouldn't go while we were hungry. As we were walking through, I started to get tired, so he picked me up and put me in the cart. When we got home, we discovered that Uncle Sam had also gone grocery shopping, so we had a lot of food! Since it was almost bedtime, I get ready for bed, because all the extra walking I had done had made me tired.

 

The next day it was raining when I woke up. I had wanted to go to the park, so I was disappointed. My legs were also feeling sore again, and I didn't want to do my exercises. 

“Uncle Saaaaam, I'm ouchy today,” I complained, when he had pulled the mat out.

“What's ouchy?” he asked, coming over to me. 

“My legs hurt like they did the other day,” I told him. 

“Hmm,” he said, frowning. “Is it the muscles, or the joints?” 

“I dunno,” I said. “I don't want to do any exercises though.” 

“Let me see,” he said, holding my ankle and straightening my leg. He lifted my leg a little bit and moved it back and forth. “Where does it hurt?”

“There,” I waved at the back of my leg.

He touched the muscle of my calf. “Here?”

“Ow, yeah!” I gasped. 

“All right, how about I massage your legs? I still want you to do your hand exercises and then do some writing later.” 

“O- kaay,” I said. At least when I was doing the hand exercises, I could watch t.v. at the same time if I wanted to! 

Uncle Sam put the mat away and then walked over to the sofa and sat. “Come over here and I'll rub your legs,” he said. I went over and laid down next to him on my tummy, with my legs on his lap. He massaged my calf muscles until they didn't hurt anymore.   
“Is that better?” he asked when he was finished. 

“Yeah, thanks, I said, rolling on my side.

“All right, I'm going to make lunch,” he patted my bottom and I moved my legs so he could stand up.

“Can I watch t.v. for now?” I asked. 

He looked at me and sighed. “I guess so.” 

Daddy came into the room from Uncle Sam's room. He was helping Grandpa John do some research. He walked over and sat down next to me.   
“What are you watching?” he asked.

“Well, it's a show about ponies, they're all friends and they live in a village together,” I explained. 

“Those ponies are everywhere, I see them all over whenever I go to a store,” Daddy said, “you like them?” 

“It's an okay show,” I said. 

“All right, come and eat,” Uncle Sam called. Daddy stood up and picked me up, carrying me over to the kitchen and setting me down in a chair. Uncle Sam watched him in silence and shook his head slightly. 

“What is that?” I asked. 

“It's called hummus, it's something different,” Uncle Sam told me, “you use the bread to scoop it up, it's good,” There was a pita cut up into triangles.

“It looks like brown cement!” I said. 

“Try it.” 

Daddy looked doubtful. I picked up a piece of the pita bread and dipped it in the hummus. Then I took a bite. “Yuck! No thanks!” I wrinkled my nose. 

Uncle Sam chuckled. “I thought I'd try it, see it you like it. Dean?”

“I've had it before, it's not my favorite,” Daddy said, “Charlie, do you want me to make you a grilled cheese?” 

“Okay,” I agreed. Daddy got out a pan and turned on the stove. Grandpa John came into the room and sat down. “I haven't had hummus in years,” he said, “What, are you turning into a hippie, Sam?” he grinned. 

“More like a hipster,” Daddy scoffed, “Next it'll be kale chips and smoothies.” 

“Hummus is a good source of protein,” Uncle Sam said, “don't knock it.” 

In a couple of minutes, Daddy brought a plate over to me. “Umm...why does this look different?” I asked, “Is it made with white bread?” 

Daddy sat down and started to eat his grilled cheese sandwich. “No, wheat.”

“I don't like wheat bread!” I complained, “Why do we have it?”

“That's what I bought,” Uncle Sam said, “Wheat bread is healthier that white, white has almost no nutritional value.” 

“I don't like wheat,” I repeated, “Just white bread!” 

“Try it, Charlie, you might like it,” Uncle Sam said. 

“I have tried it before, and I don't like it!” I snapped, pushing the plate away from me. 

“All right, I'll make you mac and cheese,” Daddy said, getting up from the table. He went to the shelf and pulled out the box of single serving mac and cheese bowls that he had bought recently.

“We running a restaurant here, Dean?” Grandpa John asked dryly, “When you were younger it was 'eat what's put in front of you and that's it'. You boys ate what I gave you or you went without,” He picked up my sandwich and started to eat it. 

“The doctor said she's supposed to be eating every couple of hours, remember?” Daddy said, “so I'll make her something if she wants it.” 

“Yeah, and she's supposed to be eating healthy foods,” Uncle Sam looked over at Daddy, “Microwavable foods aren't really that healthy.” 

“Well, it's not like this is all she eats 24-7,” Daddy retorted. 

“Let's make sure of that,” Uncle Sam said. 

Grandpa John's phone rang and he answered it. “Winchester. Hey, Singer, how's it going? Okay, yeah. Let me get to the laptop--” he stood up and looked at Uncle Sam. “Sammy,” he motioned to the other room with his head, and Uncle Sam followed him into their room. 

Daddy made me some mac and cheese and himself another grilled cheese. “I think you're supposed to rest now,” he told me when I had finished eating.

“But I'm not tired,” I said. “I thought that was only if I had exercised. Can I watch t.v.?”

Daddy looked doubtful. “I don't think Sam ever specified, so--”

Grandpa John walked into the room with the phone up to his ear. “Dean, I need to check your trunk for some supplies,” he said. 

“All right, Dad,” Daddy stood up. “go ahead and watch for a little while, Charlie,” he told me. He got his car keys out and followed Grandpa John out to the parking lot.

 

I must have fallen asleep on the sofa, because I was dimly aware of hearing voices talking every once in a while and hearing the door opening and closing. When I finally woke up all the way, I could smell food cooking. I got up and walked into the kitchen, where Uncle Sam was setting the table.

“It smells like bacon, are we having bacon?” I asked hopefully, sitting down. 

“No, I made baked pork chops,” Uncle Sam said. 

“Pork chops?” I asked skeptically. I had never had them before. 

Daddy and Grandpa John walked in from the other room, and Daddy washed his hands at the sink. “We can finish cleaning the guns tonight,” he said to Grandpa John.

“Yes, with broccoli and salad,” Uncle Sam told me. 

“Yuck! I hate broccoli!” I snapped, wrinkling my nose. 

“Then eat some salad.”

Daddy and Grandpa John brought the food over to the table and they all sat down. Daddy put food on my plate and handed it to me.  
I stabbed the pork chop with my fork and picked it up. “Am I s'posed to eat it like this?”

Uncle Sam brought a couple of bottles of salad dressing to the table. “No, cut it up with your knife.”

“It'll be too hard,” I looked up at him.

“Charlie,” he gave me a look, “try cutting it up, it will be good exercise for your hands.” 

“I don't want to,” I whined. 

Daddy pulled my plate over to him. “I'll cut it up for you.”

“Dean--”

“Sam, pork chops can be hard to cut! I don't want her hurting herself with the kinfe!” Daddy gave Uncle Sam a look and then cut up the meat for me.  
I ate a piece of meat and chewed it slowly. 

“What do you think?” Daddy asked.

I ate another piece. “Hmm, it tastes okay, but it's too chewy,” I said, “I don't really like it.” 

“Do you want me to make you something else?” Daddy asked.

“Dean, sit down and eat your dinner. Charlie's not going to starve,” Grandpa John said to me, “And you can eat the pork chop, just cut it into smaller pieces if you're having trouble chewing it.”

“But I don't--” 

“You just said it tastes okay, eat some more,” Grandpa John said firmly, “It's related to bacon, you know.” 

“It is?” I asked. 

“Yeah, it is.” Daddy said, “If you're still hungry after this I'll make you something else.” 

“She could eat the broccoli I made,” Uncle Sam said. 

“I hate broccoli!” I complained. 

“I'm not going to make her eat something she hates,” Daddy said, “you remember, there were certain foods you didn't like, and Dad never made you eat them.” 

“”Fine, no broccoli then. Take some salad.” 

I ate salad without complaining. After dinner, I watched as Daddy and Grandpa John took apart and cleaned a few guns. Daddy showed me the parts of a gun and explained how it worked, but reminded me that I wasn't allowed to ever touch one until I had been trained how to use it. He said I was still too young to learn how to used weapons yet. 

 

On Wednesday I was at PT doing group exercises, and we had been using a rainbow-colored parachute. There was a little girl next to me with very short hair, she was almost bald, and when the therapist told us to drop the parachute, she lost her balance and fell over. I leaned down and grabbed her hands to help her stand up, and I saw a man and a woman sitting in front of a desk and a man in a white doctor coat sitting behind the desk, and they were all crying. 

“Your tests will be positive at first but they need to do them again and they will be negative,” I blurted out. 

She looked up at me and frowned. “What do you mean?” 

I started to blush. “I, uh--” I tried to not say anything, but it was like the words wouldn't stay inside of me, and I said, “the doctors have to do the tests more than once, you'll see!” 

She stood there staring at me, and the therapist was saying to everyone that the session was over and she'd see us in two days. I turned and saw Uncle Sam coming in the door, so I hurried over to him as fast as I could, feeling tears starting. I grabbed him around the waist and buried my face in his stomach. “Hey, what's this? Charlie, are you okay?” he asked with concern.

“Let's go,” I said quickly, “Can we just leave!” 

“All right,” he said, and I let go of him and took his hand. 

Once we got to the car, he turned around in the seat and looked at me. “What happened in there?” he questioned. 

“There was a girl next to me and she fell, she had hair like Mommy's did when it started to grow back after her treatments, just all fuzzy, and she fell and when I helped her up I took her hands and I saw people crying with a doctor and I told her that the tests need to be done more than once,” I babbled, tears running down my face. 

“Wait, slow down,” Uncle Sam said, “There was a girl next to you and you saw something when you touched her?”

“Yeah...I saw that there was a man and woman talking to a doctor and they were all crying but it wasn't sad crying, and I knew that the tests were going to be positive at first but then they'd be negative if they did them again. And when I said that she was frowning at me!” my chest hitched, “I don't want to be like this, Uncle Sam, I can't-- I can't keep it inside, I try to keep the words in but they have to come out, and I don't like it when people look at me like that!” I let out a sob.

I saw movement outside of the car, and then the girl and a woman were walking over to us. Uncle Sam opened the car door and got out.

“Excuse me,” I heard the woman say, “Your daughter said something to my daughter and I'd like to know what she meant.” 

I gulped and opened the door, and got out to stand next to Uncle Sam. I took his hand and felt him squeeze mine.

“This is my niece, and she can...'see' things that are going to happen when she touches people sometimes.” Uncle Sam explained calmly to her.

“Oh?” the woman looked at him and then at me. 

“You,” I said, “I saw you, and a man, and you were sitting at a desk and there was a doctor there and you were all crying but it was happy. And I knew that the tests will be positive at first but then they have to be redone and they will be negative. You have to do them over.”

The woman looked stunned, and tears came to her eyes. She put her hand up to her mouth for a moment, and then looked down at the girl. “We...we just had testing done, and it was positive, and we talked about doing more treatments...are you saying we should have them do the tests over?”

“Yes,” I said.

She stared at me. “I had a feeling, I don't know, that something wasn't right...you just start to know when you've got a sick little one, you know?” she looked up at Uncle Sam, “She's being treated for Hodgkin's, and they thought they had got it all, but then they told us no, and we aren't sure where to go...and I just had an 'off 'feeling...I guess I need to talk to the doctor again.” 

“I- I'm sorry,” I said, starting to cry again.

“No, sweetie, don't apologize. I'm not upset, you just gave me hope,” she smiled at me. “Just keep doing what you're doing, your ability is a blessing. Thank you,” she and the girl turned and walked away. 

I looked up at Uncle Sam and started to cry harder. 

“What's wrong?” he asked me, “Why is this upsetting you?”

“I don't-- I don't know,” I said, “It feels like it's—stronger, and I don't like it! It just-- comes over me like a wave and I don't know what to do!” 

“All right, shhh,” Uncle Sam leaned down and picked me up. He held me tightly and stroked the back of my head as I cried. When I finally calmed down he put me back in the car and helped me buckle the seatbelt. 

“You rest,” he told me, “And we'll talk more about this when we get home.” 

 

I woke up in my bed, and rolled over. My stomach was rumbling with hunger. I sat up and swung my feet over the bed to get up, and I heard Grandpa John's voice.   
“Missouri's voice mail says she's out of town right now,” he said. “I've e-mailed her to let her know what's going on, hopefully she'll get in touch with me soon.”

“I'm just concerned because this is the third time it's happened recently and Charlie said it feels like it's getting stronger,” I heard Uncle Sam say, “And she was so upset this morning, it took a long time for her to calm down.” 

“I hope Missouri gets back to you,” Daddy said. 

I got out of bed and walked out the the living room. Daddy was sitting on the sofa, and he held his arms out to me. “Come here, baby,” he said. “I understand you had a rough morning. How are you feeling?”

I walked over to him and climbed into his lap. “Don't wanna talk about it,” I said.

He smoothed my hair back from my face. “I'd like to hear what happened.” 

“I said, I don't want to talk about it!” I snapped.

Daddy took my arms in his hands and turned me towards him, giving me a little shake. “Little girl, you are not going to give me attitude. This is something that I need to know about.” 

I opened my mouth to talk and then burst into tears. “It just comes over me real strong like a wave and I can't stop it and I get all these-- these pictures in my head!” I wailed in a rush, “I don't want to be like this anymore!” 

“All right, all right, shh, I'm sorry,” Daddy pulled me into a hug, “We're trying to get in touch with Missouri so that we can go visit her like we had planned to.” 

“What can she do?” I sniffled. 

“She can maybe help you learn to control it or at least deal with it better.” I felt Daddy's hand rubbing my back.

“Okay.”

“Dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes,” Uncle Sam called to us. 

“Dinner?” I asked. 

“Yeah, you slept through the afternoon,” Daddy said, “You must be hungry.”

“I am, I'm starving,” he leaned over and picked me up and carried me into the kitchen. 

When he set me down in a chair, Uncle Sam said, “I'm sorry the schedule has been off these past couple of days, Charlie, we're doing research for a hunt that's coming up.” 

“A hunt?” I asked. “What are you hunting? Another changeling?”

I saw Daddy and Uncle Sam look at each other and do their “talking without words” thing. 

“We're still researching,” Daddy said, “but that's not something you need to concern yourself with.” 

“Are you all gonna go? Am I gonna go with you?” I looked back and forth at them.

“No, we wouldn't take you with us,” Daddy told me. 

“Then where will I go? Who will take care of me?” 

“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, Charlie. Bobby's calling around and it's probably going to be a couple of other hunters too,” Uncle Sam looked at me. “I'd like for you to do some school work tonight, since you haven't done much over the past couple of days.” 

I looked at Daddy. “Are you gonna go? I don't want you to go. What if you get hurt? And I don't wanna do any work tonight!” 

“Charlie, don't worry about the hunt right now, all right?” Daddy said. 

“We're getting behind again, and I don't want you to get even more behind,” Uncle Sam said to me. 

“Well that's not my fault!” I snapped. “You're the one that's been busy, not me!” 

Uncle Sam's face got mad. “Young lady, watch your tone and your attitude. You are going to do some work tonight and that's final.” 

“I don't wanna!” I said loudly, throwing my fork across the table. 

“Hey!” both Uncle Sam and Daddy said at the same time. 

“I'm not gonna do any school work at night and you can't make me! That's when I watch my shows!” my voice was still loud, and I pounded my fist on the table.

“You're about to lose your t.v. privileges for the night,” Uncle Sam said sternly. 

I glared up at him. “NO!” I shouted, and I stomped my feet. 

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows. “If you're going to keep this up, then you can leave the table and go straight to bed.”

“I just woke up from a nap, I'm not tired!” I snapped. “Daddyyyyy-” I looked at him.

“Charlie, let's compromise. Why don't you do an hour of school work tonight, and then watch one of your shows--” Daddy said in a reasonable voice.

“NO!” I shouted again. 

Grandpa John came over to the table. “There's an awful lot of shouting going on,” he commented. 

“Go to your room,” Uncle Sam said in a hard voice, and his jaw twitched. 

“It's not faaaaaair,” I whined, “Daddy-” 

Grandpa John crossed his arms over his chest. “Dean, you want to weigh in here?” he asked.

Daddy rubbed his hand over his face. “Charlie, go to your room,” he said tiredly. 

“But Daddyyyyyy--”

“Charlie. Did you hear me? Go to your room,” Daddy said in a harder voice. 

I stood up and my chair clattered noisily back. “Fine, but I'm not going to bed! I'm not tired!” I stomped to my room and slammed the door, then threw myself down on my bed and started to cry. 

In a little while, the door opened and Daddy walked in carrying a plate. 

“I brought you dinner,” he said, sitting down on the bed, “I want you to eat and then take a bath.” 

I sat up. “Do I have to do school work?” I whined.

“No, but you're going to stay in here the rest of the night and go to bed early.”

“Daddyyyyy--”

He held his hand up. “I don't want to hear it. You were very rude before, Charlie, and you owe me and Uncle Sam an apology.” 

I looked down at the plate. “Sorry,” I grumbled. 

He sat with me while I ate, and then he filled the tub for me. He stayed with me while I was bathing, talking to me about this and that, and then helepd me get ready for bed. 

When Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came into the room to say good night, I said, “Sorry I was mean before.”

Uncle Sam leaned down and hugged me. “Thank you for apologizing,” he said. “We'll get back on track tomorrow, okay?” 

Grandpa John and Daddy hugged and kissed me too, and Daddy left the door open partway. I heard Grandpa John's phone ring and he talked to someone for a long time. 

 

 

I rolled over and started to wake up a little when I heard Daddy say, “What is this, an intervention?”

“We need to talk,” Grandpa John said, and his voice was deep and serious.

“About what?” Daddy said slowly. 

“About Charlie. And how you're allowing--” 

Daddy interrupted Uncle Sam. “Geez, Sam, don't start that again--”

“No, listen,” Grandpa John said, “This needs to be talked about, and some things need to be said. So, I'm going to say them,” Grandpa John sighed. “Dean, you feel guilty, I get it,” he paused, “But you're not doing Charlie any favors--”

“I don't feel guilty, what the hell does that mean?” Daddy asked angrily.

“Dean, come on, all the crap you're letting her get away with? I really can't think of any reason why you'd be doing that other than guilt,” Uncle Sam said.

“I don't feel guilty, I don't know where you're getting that from!” Daddy snapped.

“Okay, look,” Grandpa John said, and he sighed. “I'm going to level with you, father to father, okay? It's normal to feel guilty sometimes, about your kid. When your kid falls down and hurts themselves on the playground when you're not watching. When you're tired and you lose your temper and yell. But with us, with hunters, there's a stronger guilt, and it can be harder to deal with. It's the guilt that comes when your kid gets hurt because of something that has to do with the supernatural. Every time, every single time one of you'd get hurt on a hunt I felt horrible. That's part of the reason why I trained you so hard...I wanted you to be prepared, and to be able to hold your own, but also so that I could know that you were going to be like a soldier out there and put your best into it, and that way if you did get hurt...then maybe it wasn't all because I'd put you in danger. Does that make sense?” 

“You wanted to get out of feeling the guilt?” Sam asked.

“No, Sam, that's not what I meant...that guilt is always there. But if I knew that I had trained you to the best of my ability, and that you were fighting to the best of your ability, then I could say sometimes, well, I know we did our best and he still got hurt, it's not all my fault, it's just that that black shuck was really vicious. Or is was just bad luck that that ghost was really powerful and able to kick the shit out of us. Understand?”

“Yeah...” Uncle Sam said slowly. 

“And you, Dean, I know you don't want Charlie anywhere near the supernatural, but it seems like it's her lot in life to already be in it, because of her abilities. You weren't trying to get her involved in a hunt, it just happened. And the guilt that happens in that type of situation is even more powerful. But son, you've got to let it go. You didn't know what was happening, and things...went south very quickly.” 

“Yeah, but if I hadn't yelled at her like I did...if she had listened to me and stayed in the house or yard and not run off...if I'd called Sam to pick her up earlier like she wanted...” Daddy said. 

“You can't do the 'What Ifs', remember?” Grandpa John's voice was gentle. “Because you'll drive yourself crazy. And you especially can't do it after the fact. You can't know what might've happened. Charlie might have gotten taken anyway. We might not have figured out what was going on and been able to save the kids. You might not have gotten there in time and Charlie could have been--”

“Okay, stop,” Daddy said strongly. 

“My point is, Dean, that you've got to deal with the guilt and then let it go. You're allowing Charlie to get away with all kinds of behavior, and that's not good.”

“And your insistence that we do it too is only making things worse,” Uncle Sam said. “She now thinks she can run to you and hide behind you if I take her to task for something. And I told her, and you, that I'm not going to let her slack on school work, but that's exactly what's been happening.”

“Sam, she still gets tired out easily--”

“No, she tells you that, because she knows you'll give her a break. She knows that you'll carry her and cut up her food. She knows that you're not going to enforce her doing her exercises, and that is not a good thing, man. That's only going to make her recovery harder and take longer. You remember what Dr. Miriam and Imani both said? She needs to be exercising every day, different muscle groups, and not slacking off. I can already see that she's taken a step backwards in what she can do physically. Do you want her to be an invalid for the rest of her life?” Sam asked.

“For crap's sake, of course I don't want that!” 

“Then start enforcing things. Watch how she acts with you, what she says. You'll see that she's been playing you, Dean, and you've been letting it happen,” Uncle Sam said.

“And I know you're worried about her, you're worried about her getting hurt again, and you want to protect her. But you've carried it to an extreme, and that's not good for her, or for anyone. She's a kid, she's going to get hurt, and there's nothing you can do about it. She's going to fall down sometimes and scrape her knee or bump her head, and she's going to have to deal with mean kids, and you can't protect her from everything. She's got to learn how to deal with things on her own and she's also got to face the consequences of her actions,” Grandpa John's voice was calm.

“Oh, here we go,” Daddy said.

“Dean, you can't keep letting her get away with things. You said before that she'd grown up without rules and consequences and that you recognized that she needed that to feel safe. She still needs that, from all of us, but mostly from you, and if she's not getting that I'm sure it's confusing as hell for her right now. And her behavior is bearing that out- she's getting worse, and you're not doing anything about it and you won't let anyone else either.”

Uncle Sam added, “Imagine how she feels right now, she's back in the same place almost, that she was with her mom- a parent who won't enforce rules or boundaries, who allows her to get away with pretty much everything. And what's worse is that you weren't like that before and you've changed. I agree with Dad, she's probably pretty confused about things right now, and that's only going to make things worse. You've got to step it up and look at things, Dean, and start making her toe the line.” 

“Well, thank you both for your concern,” Daddy said. “I'll take it under advisement.” 

I didn't really know what Daddy meant but it sounded like he wasn't going to do what Grandpa John and Uncle Sam said, which was good. I didn't think I needed anyone to make me toe any lines or anything like that, I was fine!

 

The next morning, they were busy with research. Uncle Sam left to go to the library, after setting me up at the desk, giving me and Daddy instructions on what he wanted me to do while he was gone. 

Grandpa John was working on the lap top and Daddy was outside giving Baby's engine a tune-up. I had asked if I could help but he said he ws going to be changing the oil and other fluids in the engine and he didn't want me around, because it was messy and maybe dangerous.

I did the work that Uncle Sam had given me, and by that time, it was time for lunch. Grandpa John had come into the kitchen and started cooking, and he called me over to the table.

“Sam wants you to do some writing practice before you eat,” he told me, motioning to the table. There was the writing pad and a pencil on the table.

I sat down. “I don't want to practice writing right now, I wanted to watch t.v.! I'm s'posed to get a break at lunch time, ya know!” 

“This is just a few lines, you're not going to be running a marathon,” Grandpa John told me. “Sam left me these instructions, so you need to do this.”

“But I'm tiiiired--”

He interrupted me. “That excuse is not gonna wash with me, kiddo. Come on, get started.” 

“This isn't fair! I don't want to do this! And I'm not gonna!” I snapped.

“Little girl, you need to adjust your attitude, or I will adjust it for you, over my knee,” Grandpa John's voice got a little deeper, just like Daddy's did when he was getting angry. 

“I don't want to do this!” I repeated stubbornly.

“Well, it's what Sam wants you to do. So get it done.”

I wrote the sentences out, quickly and sloppily, and then slammed the pencil down on the table. “There, I'm done! Can I have lunch now?” I frowned.

He came over and picked up the pad and pencil and put them over on the small side counter, then brought over a bowl of mac and cheese. “Try this,” he said.

It looked different than what I usually ate. “What is this?” I asked.

“It's home-made, instead of out of a box. You're supposed to bake it in the oven for a while too, but you said you were hungry.” 

I tried a bite of it. “It tastes different. I don't like it, I want the kind that I like!” I whined.

“We're out of that, you know that, and this is what I made you for lunch. And you'll eat what I give you.” 

“But I don't liiiiike iiiit!” I whined.

“Charlie, you need to eat what's put in front of you,” his voice was no-nonsense.

I threw the fork down on the table. “Well I'm not gonna!” I crossed my arms over my chest. 

“Suit yourself,” Grandpa John said, “I'm not running a diner here, I'm not making you multiple meals. Eat what's there, or wait until dinner.” 

I sat there and glared at him. He turned away after a moment and began to wipe the stove off. “Put your dish in the sink when you're finished eating,” he told me. 

I stood up suddenly, limped over and threw my dish and silverware into the sink with a loud clatter. There was also the tinkle of glass breaking.  
“There, are you happy now, old man?” I snapped.

 

Grandpa John looked at me, his eyes darkening and his jaw tightening. He leaned over and peered into the sink.

“You just broke a glass,” he said.

“Don't care,” I turned to walk to the table.

“Well, I've had enough of this, and you're gonna care,” he said, coming over to me.

Grandpa John put his hands on my waist and lifted me up, plunking me on the counter. He was so tall that I still wasn't eye-level with him. He put a hand on either side of me, next to my legs, and leaned down so that he was looking eye to eye with me.   
“You will not talk to me that way again, little girl,” he said with a growl. “I never let my sons disrespect me and I'm not about to let my grand-daughter either.” 

I folded my arms. “Let me down!” I snapped, not dropping my eyes, even though he was glaring at me and my stomach was twisting a little nervously. 

“Wrong answer,” he said, and he picked me up again, but instead of putting me down, like I thought he would, he tucked me against his hip, and a second later I felt a sting on my bottom and heard the sound of a swat. It made me gasp, and I couldn't believe it, that Grandpa John was spanking me! 

I tried to jerk my body out of his grasp, and yelled, “Hey, lemme go! You can't-- can't do this to me!” 

He wrapped his arm tighter around me and I felt another smack on my butt, and I yelped and grabbed the back of his shirt. 

“I can, and I will,” he growled again, “Your behavior is out of hand, and I'm not going to let it go any longer. You-- will—mind—me—and--be--respectful--” he said, with a swat after each word. 

I burst into tears at the first swat and kicked my feet, wailing as Grandpa John's hard hand spanked my butt a few more times. 

He set me back on the counter and I winced when my stinging rear end met the hard formica. 

“Now, are you done giving me lip, or do you need more?” he asked sternly, looking into my eyes again. 

“I'm d-done, no m-more,” I sobbed, putting my hands up to wipe my streaming eyes. 

“Then come here,” he said, and he lifted me up and pressed me to his shoulder, wrapping his arms around me tightly. “All right, shhh, little one, you're all right,” he murmured. 

I threw my arms around his neck and sobbed into his flannel shoulder, smelling his wood smoke smell. “Suh-sorry G-gran'pa--” I heaved, “M' not tryin' to b-be b-bad, m' sorry,” and he shushed me, rubbing the back of my head. 

“You're not bad, you've been allowed to get away with a lot of bad behavior recently,” he said gently, “I know you can be a good girl, you just need a reminder to behave.”

He walked over to the sofa and sat down with me in his lap. He rubbed my back as I snuggled into him, and I heard him humming tunelessly and felt it in his chest as I rested my head on his flannel. I remembered how scared I had been of Grandpa John when I had first met him, but now I felt safe and comforted by him. 

The door opened and Daddy came in. “What's going on? What happened, did Charlie get hurt? Is she okay?” 

“Her mouth got her into trouble,” Grandpa John said. 

“Dad, what th--” Daddy started. 

Grandpa John interrupted him. “I'm not going to let anyone speak to me with disrespect, I never let you or your brother get away with that, and I'm not about to let your kid go that route either.” 

“Did you spank her?” Daddy asked, and his voice was angry. “She's not--”

“Dean, she's not a fragile porcelain doll, she's not going to get broken!”

“I'm not happy about this,” Daddy's voice was frustrated. “I said that I didn't want--”

“Listen to me. You've been letting things go too much, and your refusal to lay down the law with her is making things worse. Like I said I'm not going to let her speak to me with disrespect and today, I've had enough. If you're not going to do anything to curb her behavior and her mouth, then maybe someone else needs to.” Grandpa John said firmly.

I turned my head and opened my eyes. Daddy was standing next to us, and he leaned down to pick me up. “Come here, baby,” he said. He was wiping his hands on a rag.

I tightened my arms around Grandpa John's chest. “No, wanna stay here,” I murmured. 

”You sure?” Daddy asked. 

“Yeah,” I said, and I felt and heard Grandpa John chuckle. 

Daddy sighed, and then he turned and walked back outside. 

I snuggled into Grandpa John more and said, “I love you, Gran'pa John.”

He gave another little chuckle and said, “I love you too, little one.” He rubbed my back in slow, soothing strokes, up and down, until I was dozing in his lap.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Charlie's 'Day of Reckoning' has arrived...spanking in this chapter.  
> *************

I stood next to Lisa awkwardly as she introduced me to her co-workers. I held my Hello Kitty purse tightly in my hands so that I didn't have to shake anyone's hands. We were at a day spa for the “Mother-Daughter Spa Event” that she had told me about. 

A woman wearing a pink smock came to the door, looking down at a clipboard. “All right, I've got a schedule made up, I need Jones, Rossetti, and Siddal at the Pedicure station, Shelley, Byron, and Braeden for Manicures.”

Lisa put her hand on my back and looked down at me. “Ready?” she asked. I nodded and followed her. The woman in the smock kept calling out names, directing people to go to the massage tables or the skin care lounge. 

Lisa and I sat down at a small table next to each other. “Hi, I'm Dawn, and this is Jennie,” said a woman wearing a pink smock. Dawn had blonde hair that was very styled and heavy eye makeup. Jennie had curly brown hair that was twisted up in the back and held in place with a couple of fancy hair clips, and long nails with bright polish and little sparkly gemstones on them.

“I'm Lisa, and this is Charlie,” Lisa told them. 

Jennie looked at me. “Must be nice, getting to take a day off of school to hang out with Mom at a spa,” she said. 

“Well, Charlie's not my daughter, per se, she's...it's a little complicated,” Lisa said with a little laugh. “My son's father was not part of his life before, and he just...got in touch with me recently, and Charlie is his daughter.”

“Wow, that's nice of you to bring her along with you,” Dawn said. She looked at me. “You should stick with this lady! I had a step-father and a step-mother and neither of them ever did anything nice like this!” 

“Here's the nail polish we're going to be using, pick what you want,” Jennie set a huge tray of nail polish bottles on the table between us. Lisa and I sorted through and picked what we wanted. 

“All right, have you had a manicure before?” Jennie asked me. I nodded. She picked up a nail file and then took my hand in hers to look at my nails. I tried really hard not to see, I didn't want to see anything, but the images came into my head anyway. I saw Jennie, standing in a partially darkened room, and there was a cash register, and she opened it and then quickly took money out and stuffed it into her pocket. 

I took a deep breath and bit the inside of my cheek so I wouldn't say anything. I didn't want to ruin this day, I didn't want people to look at me funny and get mad. I kept breathing slow, and gradually the urge to say something went away.

“You okay, Charlie?” Lisa asked me.

“Yeah, “ I said faintly.

“Would you like a drink? We've got sodas and lemonade,” Jennie said.

“I'll take a Coke, how about you Charlie?” Lisa asked.

“Um, a lemonade please,” I said. 

Jennie got up and left the room, and was back in a few minutes with two cans. 

I listened as Lisa and Dawn chatted- Dawn had two boys, a 7 year old and a 12 year old, and she and Lisa were comparing stories about boys and laughing.

“I swear, they're brain dead,” Dawn said with a chuckle, “You tell them not to do something and then they do it anyway, and when they get into trouble they have the nerve to look shocked!”

Lisa shook her head and laughed. “And then when you say, 'Go to your room and wait for me', you get the puppy-dog eyes and the 'Why, Mom?', like you didn't just tell them to not skateboard off the back deck!” 

After we were finished having our nails done, we had to wait until another station was opened up. We went back to the lobby, where people were standing around waiting.

“Um, Lisa, I have something to tell you,” I said quietly. 

“What is it, Charlie?” she squatted down next to me.

“Well, when Jennie took my hand, I, uh, I saw something.”

“Oh. You mean, you saw, like you do?”

I nodded.

“What did you see?” Lisa asked.

“I saw Jennie taking money out of a register and putting it in her pocket,” I whispered.

All of a sudden I felt like crying. “But I didn't say anything, I didn't want to say anything and ruin the day, so I was able to--to keep it inside.” 

Lisa put her hand on my head. “Oh, I'm sure that was uncomfortable. Are you okay?”

I nodded. “It...it goes away after a while if I hold it in.”

“Okay. You let me know it you start feeling bad, all right?” she looked me in the eyes.

“Okay,” I agreed, “what are you gonna do? Are you gonna tell someone?”

“I think I'll make a phone call to the manager after I get home, and just let then know they should keep an eye on her,” Lisa told me. She stood up.

A woman came to the door. “Braeden and Winchester,” she called out. 

I looked up at Lisa. “What's that for?” 

Lisa looked at me. “It's a little surprise for you, I reemebered how upset you were in the hospital when they cut your hair. I made an appointment for you to have your hair styled, since they just chopped it off and didn't really do anything else to it. Is that all right?”

“Uh, sure,” I said.

“And I'll be right next to you, getting a trim,” she reassured me. 

The lady who took us back to the hair salon led us over to a section with sinks that had chairs in front of them. Lisa and I sat in the chairs and had our hair washed by two women. It was very relaxing; I had never been in a salon or gotten this done before. 

“All right, sweetie, my name is Patty, how would you like your hair? Are we doing a trim?” she asked me once I had sat in the big chair in front of a mirror.

“Uh, I dunno, I've never...I've never had a haircut in a salon before,” I told her.

“Oh, you haven't?” 

“No, my mom always just trimmed my hair herself.” 

“Okay, well do you want to do something different?” Patty tilted my head and looked at my hair in the mirror. 

“No, I don't want to make it different,” I said.

“Maybe just shape it a little, she was... in an accident and they had to cut her hair short,” Lisa said. 

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I see, it's kind of uneven on the side here and in the back. You want me to just even the ends? I can trim a little bit of bangs in the front too, if you want.” Patty walked over to a small table and then brought over a book with photos of hairstyles. “Here, I can do this if you'd like,” she turned the pages until she got to the section with kid's hair cuts. 

“Let me see,” Lisa leaned over and looked, “Oh, Charlie, that would look cute if you had some bangs cut,” she smiled at me. 

“You want to try it?” Patty asked.

“Um, okay, sure,” I took a deep breath.

“It will always grow back,” Patty told me.

“And your hair grows fast, Charlie, it's grown a lot since I first met you,” Lisa said.

When Patty was finished trimming my hair, she blew it dry, and then everyone said how cute it looked. It curled under slightly at the bottom, and it was just past my shoulders, and I had a small fringe of bangs on my forehead. 

After Lisa was finished we got to go into another room and make ice cream sundaes, and then it was time to leave. Daddy was going to meet us here because that Lisa had to get Ben from school. We walked out to the parking lot, and I saw the Impala parked in the front. Daddy got out of the car as we walked over to him.  
“Well, you look different,” he said to me. 

Lisa swatted his arm. “Dean, you're supposed to say she looks nice!” 

“I was getting to that!” he said to her, “Your hair looks good like that, Charlie, and it is different...do you like it?”

“Yeah, I do,” I said. 

“Good, I do too.” Daddy put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “You look nice too, Lis,” he said, “Thanks for doing this.”

“Sure, we had fun, didn't we?” she said to me.

“Yeah. Thank you,” I said. “Are you going to call?”

“Yes, I will,” she assured me, “I've got to go, I'll talk to you two later.” 

“What was that about?” Daddy asked after we got in the car.

“Uh, when the lady was doing my nails she took my hand and I saw... her taking money out of the registers. But I didn't say anything, I was able to keep it in.”

“You kept it in and didn't blurt it out?” Daddy asked.

“Yeah, it was hard but I did it,” I said.

“Well, good for you. I'm sorry it was hard for you,” he said. “Want to go out tonight and play some mini-golf after we eat?”

“Yeah!” I said excitedly.

 

 

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had been gone on a hunt for a couple of days now, and it was just me and Daddy again. At first I had behaved myself, feeling a little worried that Grandpa John would spank me again if I misbehaved or sassed. But then when they left I realized that Daddy was still acting the same as before. He let me eat what I wanted and he let me stay up late. We went to see a movie one day, and another day he found an indoor arcade and we stayed there for a long time playing games. 

He took me to PT and made sure I did my exercises. Uncle Sam had left a list of assignments for me to do, and Daddy checked them over. I did the work, the first couple of days, but then I got bored. I discovered that I could just fill in answers and it didn't matter if they were wrong. Daddy wasn't actually checking my work to see if it was right, he was just making sure that I had completed it. So I was able to sit there and daydream for a while and then fill in a bunch of numbers for my math work, and he didn't know that I hadn't really done what I was supposed to. 

We also spent more time with Ben and Lisa. Ben's team had three practices this week instead of two, so we went to all of them. The first one, we met them beforehand for dinner, but the second one Lisa hadn't been able to meet us before, so she said we could spend some time on the playground after. 

Ben and I were playing chase with his team-mates. I wasn't able to run that fast so I was one of the ones who got tagged out almost right away. I didn't care, though, it was fun to be running around on the playground. 

“Ten minute warning, Ben!” Lisa called to him. 

Ben stopped running. “Aw Mom, can't we stay for longer?”

“You've still got homework to do,” she reminded him. 

“Hey,” Ben said to me in a low voice, “When she calls me, let's you and me run away and not go over there. I'll bet that neither of them will chase us.” 

“Okay,” I agreed. 

We kept running with the other boys, and then I noticed Daddy and Lisa standing up. 

“Ben, it's time, buddy,” she called.

“Ignore them,” Ben said to me quietly. He started to walk across the playground quickly, away from them.

“Charlie, let's go,” Daddy called. 

We ducked under the big slides and walked the other way. 

“Ben!” Lisa called, her voice getting louder. “Ben, come on!” 

“Keep walking,” Ben said. 

“Benjamin!” Lisa had walked towards us, “I know you hear me! Let's go, young man!” 

She started to come closer to us.

“Run! You go the other way!” Ben said, and he ran away. 

“Charlie!” Daddy called to me, “Charlie, come on, it's time to go!” He was walking towards me quickly, and I didn't know what to do. 

“Benjamin Isaac Braeden, get over here now! You have to the count of three! One...” Lisa yelled, her face angry.

“Charlotte Anne!” Daddy called louder.

I walked over to Daddy and Lisa and Ben hurried over with an embarrassed look on his face. “Aw Mom, you don't have to count, I'm not a little kid any more!” he whined sulkily. “Ow, what'd you have to do that for?” he reached back and rubbed his butt where she had swatted him.

“There's plenty more of that when we get home, young man, what were you thinking, you do not run away from me when I call you,” Lisa scolded.,“Say good-night, we're leaving now.” 

“Bye, Charlie. Bye, Dean,” Ben called forlornly.

Daddy took my hand as we walked back to the car. “What the hell was that, little girl?” Daddy asked me. He seemed annoyed but not angry. 

“We didn't want to leave yet, why couldn't we stay for a while longer?” I whined. 

“Because we said it was time to go,” Daddy told me, “And you need to listen to us and do what we tell you.”

He opened the back door of the Impala and swatted me as I climbed in, but it didn't really hurt. At first I felt nervous- Ben was going to get spanked when he got home and I wondered if Daddy was going to spank me too. On the way back to the room, Daddy told me that I was going to go to bed early and I felt relieved that I wasn't going to get a spanking. He forgot to tell me to get ready for bed, though, and called me over to the sofa to watch a cooking contest show with him. I was a little confused, but I wasn't going to bring it up to him, because what if he decided that I should be spanked like Ben? Both Ben and I had disobeyed, so we both deserved to be in trouble, but Daddy wasn't really giving me consequences. It made my tummy feel funny, because I knew I should be in trouble like Ben was, but I kept quiet and sat with him and watched t.v.

 

 

“Charlie,” Daddy said quietly, shaking my shoulder. “It's time to wake up, come on.”

I rolled over and groaned. “Whyyyy?” 

“You have PT, come on, get up now.”

“I don't wannaaaa,” I whined, “can't I stay here today?”

“No, you need to do PT, kiddo. C'mon, up and at 'em.” 

He shook me again, and I batted his hand away. “Stop it! Get offa me!” I snapped, curling up in a ball. 

He stood up. “Well, I guess Uncle Sam was right, no more staying up late watching t.v. for you,” he said, and he pulled the covers off of me. 

“Heeeeyy!” I protested, reaching up to try and grab them. “Not fair!” I rolled onto my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. A second later I felt a sting on my butt as Daddy swatted me, and I sat up. “Hey!” I said again.

Daddy folded his arms. “Well, that got your attention,” he said firmly, “No more messing around, it's time to get up. Let's eat breakfast and get on the road, and you can take a nap when you get home if you're still tired.”

“I don't wannaaaa take a naaaap,” I whined.

“Oh, you keep that up and you will definitely be taking one,” he said, turning away from the bed. 

I stuck my tongue out at him as he left the room, and got up, sighing. I was tired from staying up late watching t.v. almost every night. I got dressed, slowly, and had to eat my waffles in the car because we were late. 

When we came back to the hotel, Grandpa John's truck was in the parking space next to Daddy's. I had forgotten that they were coming back today! I got out of the car and ran to the door, ignoring Daddy's shout to me.

“Hey! You wait at the car and don't go running off like that!” Daddy hurried up to me and took my arm, giving me a little shake. 

“But Daddy, I was just going to the door of our room,” I whined. 

He 'hmph'ed at me as he unlocked the door, and then Uncle Sam caught me in his arms and swung me up high as he hugged me. I liked being with Daddy but I had missed Uncle Sam and Grandpa John. I spent time sitting with them both while they did things like unpacked their duffles and sorted their dirty clothes to do laundry and talked to Daddy about their hunt. Eventually I fell asleep snuggled on the sofa in Grandpa John's lap. 

I woke up when there was a knock on the door. They had ordered pizza for dinner. I got up and went to the bathroom, and when I came back, they were all in the living room. Daddy and Grandpa John were sitting on the sofa with open bottles of beer in front of them, and Uncle Sam was sitting at the desk. 

Daddy gave me a plate with some pizza on it and I sat between him and Grandpa John while I ate. Then I saw what Uncle Sam was doing- he was looking at stuff on the tablet. I was going to get found out! 

“Charlie, come here,” Uncle Sam said, turning his body in the chair. I got up and walked over to stand in front of him. 

“Explain this,” he turned the tablet around to show me the math page where I had just filled in numbers.

“Uh--” I said, taking a big bite of pizza to buy myself some time.

“What's wrong, Sam? She did the work,” Daddy said.

“No, Dean, she didn't do the work, she just filled in a bunch of nonsense so that it looked like the work was done!” Uncle Sam said angrily.

“Charlie, is that true? Did you do that?” Daddy asked, and his voice was stern.

“Uh, just with... some of the math,” I squirmed. 

Daddy sighed. “Little girl, I'm disappointed in you- that's like lying.” 

He stood up and walked over to us, and took the tablet. He looked at the page and then handed it back to Uncle Sam, shaking his head. I stared down at my shoes. 

Uncle Sam tapped the screen a couple of times, and then looked up at Daddy, frowning. “And, she didn't do everything I left for her, again! What, were you too busy with all of your movies and min-golf to make her do the work? I can't-- I can't believe this. After the last talk we had, you said that you were on board with the home-schooling, and now, to come home and find that you haven't been enforcing things again--” 

“Sam, she did most of the work, just not all of it!” Daddy crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“Dean, I can't let this go anymore, this is her education. She'd be getting in trouble with her teacher big time for this, if she were in regular school. She's got to start getting consequences for her school work.”

Daddy got an uncomfortable look on his face. “Well...” he said slowly. 

I got mad. It wasn't fair that Uncle Sam was mad at Daddy for this, Uncle Sam was just a big giant meany! He never wanted to do anything fun, or let me have fun, it was always workworkwork with him! 

“All you want me to do is work!” I said, “and that's just not fair! You're just a meany!” I stomped my foot and glared at him.

“Excuse me, young lady, you will not talk to me that way any more,” Uncle Sam said sternly. He looked at Daddy. “I know what you said before, Dean, and I've tried to abide by it, but I've had it with her sassing me, and if it doesn't stop, I will turn her over my knee.”

“Sam--” Daddy said, and he looked even more uncomfortable. 

I glared at Uncle Sam, and he glared back at me.

I scurried behind Daddy and peered around him at Uncle Sam. “I'd like to see you try, you big dumb moose, I don't care, and neither does Daddy, and, and he won't let you spank me anyways!” I jeered. 

Uncle Sam's mouth dropped open. Grandpa John looked stunned.

“What did you just say to me?” Uncle Sam asked in a low voice.

I looked up at Daddy, knowing that he was going to defend me, and then I saw his face. His eyes were green ice, and he narrowed them as he looked down at me. 

“Charlotte. Anne. Winchester,” he said in a stony voice, and his jaw was tight. He reached for me, and I realized in that moment that I had pushed things too far, with him and with all of them. 

I ran. 

I bolted towards the door, and they weren't expecting it, so they didn't follow right away. I turned the deadbolt and yanked the doorknob, flinging the door back and running outside towards the Impala parked at the curb. 

I heard someone call out behind me, “Charlie!”

I vaguely heard a car engine in the near distance, and then I was past Baby's bumper and suddenly a car was bearing down on me. Then the air was filled with brakes screeching and a horn blaring. 

“Jesus, kid, get outta the road! I almost hit you!” a man's voice yelled. 

My heart was pounding and my breath was coming in short gasps. I turned slightly, and saw Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John all standing at the door, and all three of them wore identical expressions-- wide-eyed fear in pale white faces. 

I broke out in a sweat, and as the car pulled slowly away it was so near to me that I felt a breeze as it drove past. I realized how close I had come to being hit by a car. I started to shake as Daddy stalked towards me. 

I looked up at him as he came up to me, and his face was changing from scared to angry. 

“Daddy I'm sorry, I broke a rule, I'm sorry--” I babbled, remembering the rule just then about not leaving the hotel room by myself. It seemed like that rule had been made years and years ago.

He didn't say anything, just leaned down and grabbed me up, but he didn't hug me. He carried me quickly into the bedroom and set me down on the end of the bed.

Our eyes met as he looked down at me and I opened my mouth to say, “Daddy-” but the word stuck in my throat. He had looked angry before I ran, and now he looked thunderous. I tried to swallow but my throat was dry. He turned and walked out of the room, closing the door hard behind him. 

I put my hand up to brush my hair back from my face and my hand was shaking. I had almost gotten hit by a car. I remembered being very little and running out in the street and Mommy yanking me backwards as a yellow taxi drove towards us, and she yelled at me and actually did swat my bottom once, and then she cried which made me cry. And I had never run out into the street again. 

 

I had broken the rule about not leaving the hotel room on my own. I had been breaking lots of rules recently and no one would do anything. At first, it was nice that Daddy let me get away with everything, but I didn't feel good now and my stomach twisted uncomfortably as I thought about how I'd been acting lately. When Daddy had yelled at Uncle Sam for spanking me, I was happy...but then Uncle Sam had tried to scold me about not doing my school work and they got mad at each other again, and I felt bad that they were arguing, because I was being bad. Daddy would let me get away with anything now, and I had liked that for a while, but now I didn't, I felt sad and wished I could take it all back. I hadn't liked it when Daddy made all those rules for me and that I got in trouble when I broke them, but with the screeching tires echoing in my head, I realized they were there to keep me safe. I wanted it to be like it had been before, when I had rules and had to follow them. 

After what seemed like hours, Daddy came into the room and closed the door quietly behind him. He walked over to me and stood in front of me. I stared at my feet, unable to meet his eyes. 

“I've let things go for too long,” he said, and his voice was quiet, but there was a hardness underneath. “Dad and Sam have been telling me this, and I didn't want to hear it. I've been letting your behavior go, thinking I was taking care of you and protecting you, when all it's been doing is letting you think that you can get away with more and more. It stops now,” he shifted, “You could have gotten hit by a car, and seriously injured, or killed, little girl!” His voice had gotten louder, and I glanced up at him. He looked upset again, but not as angry as he had been. I still couldn't meet his eyes.   
“The rules are back in place,” he said firmly, “and you will follow them, or you will be punished. I'm not going to let things slide any more, do you understand me?”

“Y-yes, Daddy,” I said, and for some reason I felt relief when he said that. 

He put his finger under my chin and raised my head and made me look at him. His green eyes were very intense.  
“You know that you deserve a spanking, don't you?”

Tears came to my eyes. “Y-yes, Daddy,” I said again, and my voice shook. I didn't want a spanking, but I knew I deserved it. I deserved it for all the times I'd acted horrible and been naughty. 

“I—I'm sorry, Daddy,” I whispered. 

“So am I, sweetheart,” he said. “I'm sorry that I let it get to this point. I thought I was doing a good thing, and I wasn't.” 

He sat down on the bed next to me, and then he took my arm and guided me over his lap. I whimpered as he took a moment to adjust me, and then the first swat fell on my bottom. I burst into tears as his hand fell again and again, and I began to struggle and kick as the sting built up. 

“Please, Daddy, I'm sorry!” I wailed.

His voice was severe as he continued to spank me, “You will never run out into the street like that again. You almost got—got hit by a car,” his voice shook a little, “I almost lost you before, and I will not lose you. You need to follow the rules, and be safe. And I'm going to make sure you follow the rules.” 

I whimpered again as he pulled my shorts and panties down, and I wailed wordlessly as his hand spanked my bare bottom, making it sting even more. 

“You will do as you're told,” he lectured as he spanked, “and you will not be sassy or disrepectful. You will follow the rules, and you will do your schoolwork. You got it?” 

“Yes, Daddy, yeeeeess!” I howled. 

He continued to bring his hand down on my sore rear end, turning the stinging into a fire. “You will do all the work that Uncle Sam gives you, and you will do your exercises, and you will not lie about your assignments, or being tired, or needing a break. You will not lie about anything!”

He shifted me forward on his lap and the next set of swats fell right on the lowest part of my bottom, and I howled and kicked my feet again. 

And then he stopped, and was pulling my panties and shorts back up. He pulled me up into his arms and held me, and I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his chest.

I felt him kissing the top of my head. “I love you, Charlie, and I'm not going to let you misbehave any more. You will follow the rules now, and you will do what you're told.”

“Y-yes, D-daddy,” I sobbed, “I love you t-too.” I curled up on his lap, feeling calm and safe, and I realized that I hadn't felt that way for a while now. Even though my bottom was throbbing and my face was wet with tears, I felt better than I had since I had gotten out of the hospital. I was exhausted from crying, and in no time at all I could feel myself falling asleep in Daddy's arms.


	48. Chapter 48

Daddy woke me up the next morning. I was in my bed, in my nightgown-- he must have changed me and put me to bed after I had fallen asleep in his lap the night before. He was sitting on the edge of the bed. I looked at him carefully to see if he was still angry, but he didn't look like it.   
“We're going to have a talk about the rules this morning before you go to PT,” he told me, “And Uncle Sam wants to have a talk with you about home-schooling.”

“Uh, a... talk?” I asked hesitantly. Sometimes when Daddy said “a talk” it really meant a spanking.

“He wants to go over his rules for your schoolwork. And I'm backing him one hundred percent on this, Charlie,” he gave me a serious look, “You need to apologize to him too, little girl, for what you said to him last night, and also for how you've been treating him and talking to him lately. Your sassy mouth has been out of hand with him. And you need to apologize for lying about your school work too. Understand?”

I squirmed uncomfortably, because I felt so guilty for how I had been with Uncle Sam. I knew I had been mouthy but it had gotten to the point where I just couldn't seem to stop. “Okay,” I said, trying to appear agreeable. 

“No, Charlie,” Daddy said sternly, “For now on it's yes, Daddy and no, Daddy, got it?”

“Uh- yes, Daddy,” I said.

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “All right, get dressed and come out to the kitchen for breakfast and we'll talk,” he got up and started to walk out of the room.

“Daddy!” I called. 

He turned back to me with a questioning look on his face.

I raised my arms up to him. “Carry me!” 

He looked at me and something in his face changed. “No, Charlie, you need to walk.” 

“But- but you always carry me!” I felt disappointed. 

“I said no. You need to walk so that you're getting as much exercise as possible,” he turned and went out to the kitchen. 

I felt a little hurt by that, because he would always carry me out of the room and then we'd snuggle together on the sofa for a few minutes. 

I sighed and got out of bed, grabbing some clothes out of my duffle and getting dressed slowly. I wasn't looking forward to talking with Uncle Sam. What if he was still mad at me? What if he spanked me? 

When I went out to the kitchen, Daddy and Uncle Sam were already there. Daddy was standing at the stove, and Uncle Sam was sitting at the table with a mug in his hands. He looked up when I walked over to him. “Charlie,” he nodded at me.

I stood in front of him and put my hands behind my back. “Uh, Uncle Sam, I'm, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday to you, an' I'm sorry for being mean and sassy all those times before,” I looked down at my feet.

“Thank you, Charlie,” he said, putting the mug on the table.

I cleared my throat. “An' I'm sorry for, uh, for not doing my work and, uh, lying about it.” 

He leaned forward slightly. “By all rights, I owe you a spanking for that,” he said.

My tummy clenched nervously when he said that, and I looked up at him to see what he was going to do.

“Lying is supposed to be an automatic spanking, but since things...have been different the past couple of weeks, we're going to start over today, clean slate.” 

“Sit down and eat, Charlie,” Daddy said, bringing a pan of scrambled eggs to the table. He served them onto the plates that were on the table.

I slid into my chair and picked up my fork, feeling relieved. Daddy put two pieces of toast on my plate and Uncle Sam slid a bowl with canteloupe slices over next to me. “Take some fruit too,” he said to me. Even after how I'd been with him, and how mean I had been the night before, he was still being nice to me and doing things to take care of me. 

I burst into tears and then flung myself out of the chair and onto his lap. “I am sorry, Uncle Sam!” I sobbed, “I'm sorry I was so bad, an', an' sassed you so much, I'm the big meany, not you!”

He put his arms around me, “Shh, Charlie, no, you're not mean, and you're not bad, you've just been having a rough time because... the rules weren't being enforced. It's all right, honey, shh,” he rubbed the back of my head. 

He held me until I stopped crying, and then handed me a napkin to wipe my face with. I wiped my face and then slid off of his lap and got back into my chair. I took two slices of canteloupe and started to eat them.

“Now, rules,” Daddy said, “Let's go over the rules to see if you remember them and so that they're in your mind. How many do you remember?”

“Uhh...” I thought for a moment, “Um, stay with a grownup in public, no wandering off, no, uh, hitting or putting my hands on someone, no leaving the room by myself, umm...no sassing, no disrespect, no attitude, do what I'm told without complaining or mouthing off...” I trailed off.

“You forgot a big one,” Daddy told me, “No lying.” 

I felt myself blushing. “Oh, yeah,” I said. 

“And what's the consequence for lying?” he asked.

“Uh, a- a spanking,” I said quietly. 

“That's right,” Daddy said, “Lying is a big no-no in our family, because we all need to trust each other and we can't trust if there's lying going on. Do you understand that?” 

“I- I think so,” I said.

“How about the rules for the car, do you remember them?” he asked.

“Um, always stay buckled when the car is moving and stay right by the car when I get out, and uh, no throwing things,” I felt myself blush harder, remembering the spanking I had gotten for throwing the crayons, and I looked down at my plate. 

“Good job remembering those, Charlie,” Daddy said.

“No locking doors, and no answering the hotel room door by yourself either,” Uncle Sam said.

“Oh, yeah,” I said, picking up a piece of toast.

Uncle Sam took a drink of his coffee and set the mug down. “Now let's talk about home-schooling,” he looked at me, “you're behind now, Charlie, and you're going to have to really work hard to catch up. I can't keep letting things go anymore either. Part of that is my fault-- I left you alone to do the work because I wanted to help Dad with his research or whatever. I realized that I can't do that, because this is different and you're still getting used to it. So for that, I'm sorry. I'm going to be working with you much more closely from now on, until we've both gotten used to home-schooling and figured out what works best for you. It might take a little while to figure that out and decide how we want to do things. But from now on, I'm not going to tolerate any more slacking off, or lying about school work, or lying to get out of doing work. You lie to me about your school work, and you'll get a spanking,” Uncle Sam gave me a look. 

“O-okay,” I said, “I mean yes, Uncle Sam,” I swallowed nervously. 

“We need to discuss consequences too,” Daddy looked at me, “Early bedtime, loss of t.v. privileges, time out, and losing your 3DS or drawing supplies for a while, and spanking.”

“I'm not going to have you writing lines as a consequence for now because you're still working on your hand strength,” Uncle Sam said. “Finish up, Charlie, we need to leave soon.”

“Yes, Uncle Sam,” I put the toast crusts on my plate and ate the last of my eggs. 

“Put your plate in the sink if you're done,” Daddy said.

I got up and threw the crusts in the trash, and then carefully placed my fork and plate in the sink.

As I walked past the table, Daddy caught me around the waist and pulled me over to him and onto his lap. “I still need my morning snuggle,” he said, hugging me, “I didn't forget about that.” 

Tears came to my eyes for a second- I was glad he hadn't forgotten, because I had come to enjoy sitting with him in the mornings. I put my arms around him and leaned into his chest. 

“Where's Grandpa John?” I asked.

“He already left to go to the library, doing more research,” Uncle Sam said, “He has the ability to really focus and find clues in the smallest details and put them together.” 

“Another hunt? Already? Are you guys going to have to go with him?” I looked up at Daddy.

“Well, no, this is something...it's a long-term project that he's been working on for years,” Daddy said. He patted my thigh. “Go on and get ready, you need to get going.” He gave me a squeeze and kissed my forehead, and I slid off of his lap and went to put my shoes on. 

 

 

A nurse stopped Uncle Sam on the way out of the PT session that day, to tell him that Dr. Miriam wanted to see me on Wednesday, to draw some blood and do an assessment of my strength and everything. She gave him a slip of paper that she said was a prescription for a sedative.

I fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel like I always did, and Uncle Sam woke me up after a couple of hours. 

“Let's have lunch and then do some school work,” he said, “I think you do better work in the afternoon.” he stood up.

I lifted my arms to him. “Carry me!” I said. 

He just gave me a look. “No, you can walk. It's better for your legs if you walk.”

“But—but I had PT earlier, and I--”

“I said no, Charlie,” Uncle Sam said evenly.

“Oh come on!” I complained.

“Excuse me?” Uncle Sam asked in a stern voice. He raised his eyebrows at me. 

“O-kaaay,” I said.

He had started to walk out of the room, but he stopped and turned when I said that.“Excuse me?” he repeated, frowning at me now.

I gulped nervously. “I—uh, I mean, yes Uncle Sam,” I said quickly, remembering what Daddy had said earlier. I got up and followed him into the kitchen. 

We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, and then Uncle Sam sat me down at the desk and we did school work together. For a looooong time. I didn't mind it, though, because it was reading and vocabulary and I like to read and learn about words. 

Uncle Sam scrolled through the test I had taken, shaking his head. “Amazing, Charlie,” he said, “I really think we're going to breeze through this course work. If you keep going the way you're going with Language Arts, you may very likely finish this unit early and we can start on the next one,” he set the tablet down on the desk. “You got 100 % on the vocab test, which is what I expected,” he smiled at me and ruffled my hair, “Good job, honey.”

I grinned at him, feeling proud. 

Daddy walked into the room just then. “We need to leave in about 10 minutes to meet Ben and Lisa, he's got practice tonight, and she wanted to try this new pizza joint that just opened up.”

“All right, I think now is a good stopping point,” Uncle Sam said, “Charlie got 100 % on her vocabulary test,” he told Daddy. 

I got off of my chair and started to walk over to the door to get my shoes, and Daddy caught me up in a hug. “100 percent, that's great!” he said happily, and kissed the top of my head. 

“Sam, you going to come with?” Daddy asked.

“Sure, I'm up for trying a new place,” Uncle Sam said. He walked to the door of the room he shared with Grandpa John. “You coming to dinner, Dad?” he called in.

I was putting my shoes on, and I heard Grandpa John say, “No, just bring me something back.” 

I walked over and peeked around Uncle Sam. Grandpa John was sitting on the sofa with a notepad, and there were a couple stacks of thick, heavy, old-looking books on the coffee table. He looked over at us. 

“Hey, darlin'”, he said to me, “Come here and say hi,”

I walked over to him and he hugged me. “What are all those books?” I asked.

“Oh, boring stuff, old records of land ownership and how they passed from one generation to the next and accounts of events that happened a couple centuries ago.”

“Why are you looking at them?” 

“Well, I'm investigating a certain area in a certain state right now...for a case.”

“Oh,” I said, realizing that he didn't want to tell me any more. “Those books look cool, like spell books from Harry Potter.”

He chuckled. “Well trust me, they're nowhere near as interesting as that.” 

“Let's go, Charlie,” Daddy said from the doorway.

Grandpa John leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Have fun, see you later,” he said distractedly, looking back down at the book that was in his lap. 

I followed Daddy and Uncle Sam out to the car. The new restaurant was brightly lit and had lots of hanging plants dangling from the ceiling. There were big glass jars and bottles of oils and spices decorating the wall behind the front counter. 

“This place doesn't have any video games,” Ben complained.

“Well, not every restaurant is going to be the same,” Lisa told him.

We ordered our food and the waiter brought our drinks. Ben saw one of his team-mates and went to talk to him. 

“So listen,” Lisa stirred her iced tea, “Melanie, one of my co-workers, just moved in to this old house, and she's been having some... strange experiences.”

“Like what?” Daddy asked.

“Feeling like she's being watched, hearing voices, things moving around. She'll put something somewhere and then it will be gone, and then a couple days later she finds it somewhere else where she knows she didn't put it.” 

“Maybe she's just forgetful,” Daddy said.

“Does she live near electrical lines? That can cause things like the sensation of being watched,” Uncle Sam said.

“No, it's kinda out a ways from town, and no Dean, she's not forgetful. I'm talking about things like she takes her earrings off at night and puts them on her bedside table, and then can't find them, and a couple of days later they're in a bowl in the kitchen cupboard.”

“Ooh, is it a ghost?” I asked, excited.

“Maybe, maybe not, but you don't need to concern yourself with it, Charlie,” Daddy looked at me. 

“I was wondering if you two would take a look,” Lisa said.

“Sure,” Uncle Sam said, “Can you get us the address, and I'll look up information about the house first?”

“Are you going to go on a ghost hunt? I asked, “Can I go too?”

“No,” Daddy and Uncle Sam said at the same time. 

“Aww-”

“Charlie, drop it,” Daddy said warningly, “We'll talk more about it later,” he said to Lisa.

The waiter brought the pizza, and Lisa motioned for Ben to come back over to the table. The pizza was okay, and we ate quickly because we had to get to Ben's practice. 

“Hey Mom, don't forget to call the computer place about the laptop,” Ben said to Lisa.

“All right,” she agreed.

“What's going on with the laptop?” Uncle Sam asked.

“It's very slow when loading pages and it keeps crashing,” Lisa said.

“If you want I can take a look at it,” he told her.

“Sure, that would be great.”

“Can you fix it?” Ben asked Uncle Sam.

“I might be able to,” Uncle Sam replied. 

When we went to Ben's practice, Uncle Sam took me to the playground and pushed me on the swings for a while because I got bored of watching. Ben wanted to stay afterwards to go on the playground, but Lisa said no, so that we could go to her house and have Uncle Sam look at the laptop. 

When we got there, she brougt the computer out to the kitchen and showed Uncle Sam what it was doing. He started to type of the keyboard and look at things.   
“Ben, don't forget to put your cleats and mitt in the hall closet,” Lisa called as Ben came into the room. 

“I know, Mom,” he rolled his eyes. He walked over to the fridge and took out a carton of juice, opened it, and began to drink out of it.

“Hey!” she said, taking it away from him, “Are you supposed to do that?” 

“Aw Mom, I'm thirsty, I don't feel like getting out a glass!” he complained.

“Other people might want some juice, but they don't want your germs,” she told him. 

“Okaaay,” he said. 

“Go take care of your baseball equipment before you forget,” she gave him a little push. 

He muttered under his breath as he left the room. 

“And lose the attitude!” she called after him. She looked at Dean and shook her head. “Some days...”

“I wouldn't know anything about that,” Daddy said with a chuckle.

“Okay, I found something,” Uncle Sam said. “There was a virus downloaded from this site,” he turned the laptop to show her.

“Darn him,” Lisa said under her breath. “Ben, come here!” she called.

He walked back into the kitchen in his bare feet. “Yeah?” 

“Uncle Sam found the problem,” she said, “There was a virus from that new game site you went on. Didn't I tell you to let me check it out first?”

Ben looked down and shuffled his feet. “Well, yeah,” he said. 

“Then why didn't you wait?” 

He shrugged. “Dunno.” 

“Well, next time I tell you to wait until I check it out, you'd better listen,” she said sternly, “Thank Sam for fixing the computer.” 

Ben looked at him. “Thanks” he said, “It's cool that we didn't have to take the computer over to the store and leave it!” 

“Sammy's kinda a computer expert,” Daddy said, “We have a friend who works on computers who taught him a lot.”

Uncle Sam showed Lisa and Ben a couple of free sites that had free software to perform virus scans. He also showed them how to check the system and make sure it was running properly.

“Cool, thanks, Sam!” Ben beamed at him. 

“I'm so glad we didn't have to take the computer to have it looked at, they charge an arm and a leg, so thank you,” Lisa smiled at Sam.

“No problem, anytime,” Uncle Sam said.

“We should get out of your hair, it's getting late, and I know that Ben has homework,” Daddy said. “We'll see you in a couple of days, Ben.” He stood up and got out his car keys. Ben went over to Daddy and hugged him around the waist, and then he turned to Uncle Sam and hugged him too.

 

The next day Uncle Sam and I worked for a long time to catch up on my school work, and then in the afternoon all of us went to the library. I took my books back and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam went to the documents room to look at stuff. Daddy stayed with me in the kid's section while I looked at books. 

“Can I get more than three?” I asked him.

“No, get three more and we'll see how that goes again,” he said. 

“Aww, I wanted more. I'm a fast reader ya know!” I said with a pout.

“I know you are, but I want to make sure that you an take care of the books we're getting out first, before allowing you to get out a huge stack.”

I picked three books and then kept looking.

“All right, come with me,” Daddy said.

I turned to look at him. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I want to go over to the adult section.”

“But you let me stay here by myself last time!” I whined.

“Well, this time I want you to come with me.”

“But--but whyyyy?” I whined again.

“Because I do. And because I told you to,” Daddy frowned at me. 

“Can't I stay here and look at the books, I mean I won't--”

He leaned down to me. “What did I just say?” he asked in a stony voice. His eyes were stern. “Do you need to be in trouble?”

I looked at him and gulped. “Uh, no, Daddy,” I said meekly, and I put my hand in his. I followed him around in the adult section for a few minutes and then left, after checking with Grandpa John. He was still working on something, but Uncle Sam came back to the room with us. 

As soon as we walked in, I sat down on the sofa with the library books and opened one. Uncle Sam walked over to me and took it out of my hands.   
“Uh-uh,” he said, “Let's get back to work for a while.”

“Aww, Uncle Sam, I wanted to read!” I protested.

“I know, but let's finish the social studies that we were working on earlier, and then you can be done for the day.”

“Okaaay,” I got up and trudged over to the desk. It didn't take very long to finish, since it was more reading, and I answered the questions quickly and then was finished. I sat quietly while Uncle Sam checked my work.

“Good job,” he ruffled my hair, “You can go read now.”

“Thanks!” I smiled at him and went back to the sofa and my books. I read until dinnertime. Then Daddy and I walked to the park near the hotel so that I could play on the playground for a while.

 

“Bath time when we get back to the room, kiddo,” Daddy said to me as we walked.

“Aww, why?” I complained. “I wanted to watch my cooking show tonight!” 

“Because it's hot, and you were running around on the playground, and now you're all sweaty,” Daddy said.

“But Daddyyyyy-” I whined as we went into the room.

Uncle Sam was on his laptop. “Hey, what's up?” he asked, glancing at us. 

I flopped down on the sofa. I was tired now, and I was tired of always being told what to do, too!

“Charlie needs to take a bath,” Daddy said. I heard him walk into the bathroom and start the water in the tub. 

I leaned forward and picked up the remote, turning on the t.v. and starting to flip through the channels. 

“Uncle Sam, I'm thirsty, can you get me a drink?” I asked.

He didn't say anything and I looked over at him. He was writing something on a pad of paper and looking from the laptop screen to his pad, concentrating.  
“Uncle Saaaam, I'm thirsty!” I whined.

“Well, Charlie, you can get it yourself,” he said.

“But I was just on the playground and we walked back and now I'm tiiiired-”

“Charlie,” Daddy's voice rapped out. He was standing in the door of the bedroom with his arms crossed. “What are you doing?” 

“Dadd--”

“Is the t.v. on?” Daddy started to walk towards me and I flicked the off button on the remote. 

He glared at me. “Little girl, I don't know what's going on with you, but you should already be undressed and ready to get in the tub, not out here whining at Uncle Sam and watching t.v. I told you no t.v.”

“You—you did not! And, and I wasn't whining!” I snapped. 

“All right, that's enough, let's go,” Daddy snapped his fingers and pointed to the bedroom.

I sat up, suddenly angry. “Just wait a minute, gosh, I'm thirsty, and I want a drink, and I'm tired, and it would be nice if someone helped me instead of bossing me around!” I stomped past him to the kitchen and grabbed my cup off of the table, taking it to the sink and filling it. 

Daddy followed me and stood there watching me as I took a long drink of water. 

“All right then, no t.v. tomorrow,” he ground out, folding his arms over his chest.

“That's not fair!” I protested.

“Well, you only have yourself and your attitude to blame for that,” he said in that same low voice. 

I frowned at him and stomped my foot.

“You want to go straight to bed after dinner tomorrow? Because that's next,” He frowned back at me.

I stomped my foot again. “No, I don't! And I don't want to take a bath either!” I slammed my cup down onto the counter for emphasis, and water splattered everywhere.

“You are treading a very fine line, here, little girl,” he said, and his voice was almost a growl. 

“What line, I don't see any line?” I sassed, and then took a drink of water. 

His face got angry. “This line,” he growled, and then he took my wrist and with his other hand he pulled a chair out from the table. 

In one movement, it seemed, I was face down over his lap, and I began to struggle right away.

He put his hand on my back and pressed down, holding me there. “Be still,” he said sternly. 

I laid there over his knees, waiting for Daddy to start spanking me. My tummy clenched up with nervousness, and I gulped- I didn't think I was going to end up over Daddy's lap so soon again. And then the first stinging swat fell, and I gasped. Another swat landed and tears came to my eyes but I fought them, I was still too annoyed.  
“No more whining, no more sassing, and no more attitude!” Daddy said as his hand fell several times on my bottom. 

“Oww Daddy let me up!” I said defiantly. I didn't want to cry, but I was starting to. I twisted on his lap, trying to get off of his legs. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. 

“Excuse me?” he said, “What did you just say to me?” He started to spank me again, and I continued to struggle. “Lemme up!” 

“Maybe I need to wash the sass out of your mouth while you're taking a bath, is that it?” 

That got my attention and I stopped fighting. “N-no, Daddy,” I said quickly. 

“Enough,” he said sternly, and then he spanked the lower part of my butt a few times, and that made me start sobbing. 

“Are you done with your sassy mouth and your little tantrum?” he asked, continuing to spank me. 

“Yes Daddy-” I whined, as the sting continued to build in my rear end.

“Are you done with the attitude and the whining?” Two more swats fell for emphasis.

“Y-yes Daddyyyy!”

“And you're done disobeying me? You're going to get your butt into the bathroom and take a bath like I told you?” His hand fell a couple more times as I whimpered.

“Y-yes D-daddy!”

He stopped spanking me and let me up, standing me in front of him. He took my chin in his hand and made me look at him. “No more tonight, little girl, or the next spanking you get will be on your bare butt,” he said, “You understand?”

“Yes Daddy,” I sniffled.

“What do you have to say to me?” he asked sternly

“I'm s-sorry,” I said, and for some reason saying that made me cry harder. He pulled me into a hug for a moment, and then let me go. 

“Go on and take your bath now, Charlie,” he told me. 

I went to the bathroom and took my clothes off, and then got into the tub. I peeked back at my pink bottom before I sat down in the tub, it was still stinging a little bit. And then I discovered that sitting in a warm bath makes your stingy bottom sting a little more! I washed my body and my hair quickly, so that I could get out of the water as soon as possible. Daddy had put clean pajamas and panties on my bed and I put them on and took my Hello Kitty hair brush out to Uncle Sam so he could brush my hair, just like always. 

Grandpa John was sitting on the sofa, and he beckoned me. I walked over to sit with him. He was watching a baseball game. 

“Uh, am I allowed to watch?” I asked Daddy hesitantly.

“I said no t.v tomorrow, you can sit with Grandpa John right now,” Daddy told me. 

I curled up in Grandpa John's lap and didn't really pay attention to the game, because I still didn't get it. It was nice to snuggle with him, my mommy hadn't had very many relatives, and we only saw them every so often, and none of them were very snuggly or even hugged me at all. 

“I got medication for you for tomorrow, Charlie,” Uncle Sam told me. “Dr. Miriam wants to run some tests, remember? We're going to try giving you some medicine that will make you sleepy instead of a shot, and then she'll take some blood.”

“I don't want that,” I whined, “I hate needles!” 

“I know, hopefully the medicine will work well enough that you'll be calm,” Uncle Sam said. 

“How about after you get all your testing done, we meet for ice cream somewhere, okay?” Grandpa John hugged me. “That way you have something to look forward to.”

“Okay,” I agreed. 

 

 

“Charlie? Charlie, wake up, come on, open your eyes, sweetheart,” Daddy said, and his voice sounded funny. 

I opened my eyes. I was in bed, and Daddy was sitting propped up against the headboard. My head was on his thigh. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were standing next to the bed, looking down at me with concern on their faces.

“What- wha's wrong?” I asked, and my mouth and throat felt as dry as the desert. “Water please,” I croaked. 

Uncle Sam went into the bathroom and I heard the tap running. Daddy started to help me sit up, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. “What?” he asked.

“Dizzy,” I mumbled. 

Uncle Sam held the cup up to my mouth and I put my hands on his to hold the cup, and drank. I saw myself, laying on the table in the doctor's office, with my eyes closed, and I could feel his worry and fear. I put my hand in my lap and looked up at him.

“Wha' happened?” I asked slowly.

“I think the sedative that was prescribed was too strong,” Uncle Sam said, “You conked out in the doctor's office and Dr. Miriam couldn't do some of the testing. You wouldn't wake up for anything. She kept you there for observation for a while, and then told me to take you home.”

“You've been asleep all day, Charlie,” Daddy told me, “We've been worried about you.” I looked at him and saw that his forehead had worried lines in it.

“How are you feeling?” Grandpa John asked.

“I gotta pee,” I said, “and I feel like my head is full of clouds.” 

“That's the sedative,” Uncle Sam shook his head, “She said to have you drink a lot when you woke up, but otherwise to just let you sleep it off.” 

I tried to get out of bed and almost fell because my arms and legs felt so heavy.

“Let me help you,” Daddy said, and he put his arm around my waist.

“I don't like this,” I whimpered. “It makes me think of bein' in the hospital. Am I not gonna be able to move right again?”

Daddy walked me slowly to the bathroom. “No, this should wear off by tomorrow.” 

He left the room when I sat down on the toilet, but then when I was done, and stood up to pull my panties up, I lost my balance and fell. Daddy rushed in and picked me up off of the floor.

“I don't like this,” I said again, starting to cry.

Daddy carried me back to bed and laid me down, sitting next to me again. “I know, baby,” he said, “It'll be better tomorrow.” 

I didn't think I'd be able to go back to sleep, but in no time at all I felt myself drifting off.


	49. Chapter 49

I woke up with my stomach growling with hunger. I rolled over and looked up- Daddy was sitting on the bed next to me, with Uncle Sam's laptop in his lap, wearing a pair of earbuds.

He saw that I was awake and pulled the earbuds out. "Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?"

"Starving," I said, and my voice still sounded hoarse.

He chuckled, and clicked a couple of keys on the laptop. "Let's go get you something to eat."

I sat up slowly and he watched me. "You dizzy again?"

"Uh-uh," I said. I got off the bed and he walked next to me, watching as we walked into the kitchen.

"What would you like?" he asked, "Scrambled eggs?"

"Uh, no, I'm tired of them, some cereal and toast please."

"All right," Daddy got out some bread and put it in the toaster, then set a tall glass of water in front of me.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it was the afternoon. "Oh no, Daddy, we missed PT!"

"It's all right, Charlie, I called them and Dr. Miriam. She said to let you sleep as long as you needed."

I sighed with relief. "Good."

The door opened and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came into the room. "-just saying, you could have presented it in a slightly...calmer...way..." Uncle Sam was saying. They saw us in the kitchen and both walked over to me.

"So glad you're awake, Charlie," Uncle Sam said, and he leaned down and kissed the top of my head.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Grandpa John asked me, putting his hand on my cheek briefly.

"Uh, okay, just a little tired. And hungry."

They chuckled at that. "You've been asleep for almost 24 hours," Uncle Sam said. "So, we went to the pharmacy, and it turns out, they filled the prescription wrong. It was written for a child's dosage and the pharmacist mis-read it and put a higher dose of medicine in the bottle."

"Damn," Daddy said.

"Yeah, and I gave them a piece of my mind," Grandpa John growled.

Uncle Sam gave him a look. "Dad, you made all the cashiers cry. You didn't have to do that."

"Well, they screwed up, and that's not a good thing! Especially not with a child, the wrong medicine can have deadly consequences!" Grandpa John frowned at Uncle Sam. "I'm not going to spare anyone's feelings because they messed up! And ths is my grand-daughter we're talking about!" He leaned down and squeezed my shoulders.

Daddy looked at Uncle Sam. "I imagine he had the whole pharmacy department shaking in their shoes."

Uncle Sam sighed. "Yeah, you know how it is, I think everyone in the tri-state area heard John Winchester's dressing-down of the pharmacist."

"Oh, that's what that noise was was earlier," Daddy teased.

"Sure, make fun all you want, but that voice got a troop of men out of the jungles of Vietnam and trained your two sorry butts," Grandpa John said to Daddy and Uncle Sam. He looked down at me. "You sure you're okay now?" he asked me with concern.

I nodded.

"Dr. Miriam wants to check you out on Friday, and she'll do the rest of the testing. She was able to draw the blood, so you don't have to worry about that, all right?" Uncle Sam told me.

"Okay," I nodded again. Daddy put a plate of toast in front of me and I started eating.

"Well, I've got to keep working on my case," Grandpa John said, "I discovered that the same parcel of land has been passed between two families for almost 150 years in Nevada." He leaned down and dropped a kiss on my head.

"Sounds thrilling," Daddy said.

Uncle Sam had walked over to his laptop on the desk. He opened his bag and pulled out his notebook. "Hey, Dean, check this out," he said, and Daddy walked over to him. Uncle Sam tapped the keyboard and then started to talk to Daddy in a low voice. Daddy and Uncle Sam both looked at the computer screen as Uncle Sam scrolled down a page.

Daddy straightened up. "I'll go check the batteries on everything," he said.

"All right, she's supposed to let me know what night is best," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy took his keys off of the side table and went outside.

Uncle Sam came over to me. "Are you still hungry?" he asked.

I shook my head. "What were you and Daddy talking about?" I looked up at him. "That haunted house?"

Uncle Sam looked down at me. "First of all, don't make assumptions, and second of all, it's none of your business, understand?"

I sighed. "Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. Then I looked up at him. "Since I know things when I touch people, maybe I could know something about a ghost when I touch something old! I could help you and Daddy!"

Uncle Sam leaned down. "No, young lady, and I don't want you trying it either."

"But it could be-"

"Charlotte. I said no. It's- that's dangerous, and you'd better not ever try anything like that." Uncle Sam's face was serious and his voice was stern.

Daddy walked into the room carrying a small device in his hands. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Uncle Sam straightened up and looked at him. "Little Miss Charlie here wants to try to help us by touching something old and seeing if she can tell something about a ghost."

Daddy looked at me with the same serious look on his face. "Absolutely not, little girl," he said in a stony voice, "Don't you ever do anything like that, you hear me?"

I gulped at how stern he sounded. "Uh, yes, Daddy," I agreed.

"And if I find out that you tried something like that- and I will find out- you will be in serious trouble, do you understand?" Daddy's voice had dropped lower.

"Y-yes, Daddy," I repeated.

He looked at Uncle Sam. "I forgot, this is the one that always jams. We forgot to get Ash to look at it last time we were out there. I'm going to ask Dad if he's got one we can use." Daddy went into the other bedroom.

"Are you ready to get started on your school work, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. I threw away my crusts and put my plate in the sink.

We sat down at the desk together and he turned on the touchpad.

It was hard work today because I had a lot of Math to do. I had learned about mulitplying at the end of last year, so now Uncle Sam was teaching me dividing, which was like multiplying, but backwards. Some of the bigger numbers were hard to do. I could do math and was good at it, but it wasn't nearly as much fun as reading. I got tired of multiplying and dividing a lot quicker, too.

Uncle Sam was looking something up on his laptop and he told me, "I'll be right back, Charlie."

He took his laptop into the other room where Daddy and Grandpa John were. He was in there for a few minutes. I rested my elbow on the desk, putting my chin in my hand, and stared off into space, daydreaming.

"Sorry," Uncle Sam walked back over to me and set his laptop down on the coffee table. "Did you get that page done?"

"Uhhhh...no," I looked down at my lap, feeling my face get red. Uncle Sam picked up the tablet. "And why not?" he scrolled through. "Charlie, you only did the first 4 problems. What happened?"

"I—I- I'm tired of doing math now! I just don't- I don't like it!"

"Well, like it or not, it still needs to get done."

"You didn't say I was on a timer," I said sourly.

"No, I didn't, but I gave you an assignment and I expect you to do it," he set the tablet down and looked at me.

"Well, when I was in school, I could skip sometimes," I told him, raising my chin.

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"I always had good grades, so sometimes I'd skip doin' a 'signment if I didn't feel like it, and just get a 'F'. And it wouldn't affect anything 'cause I'd always make it up later with extra credit."

"Well, young lady, that's not happening here," Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips. "You cannot 'skip doing something because you don't feel like it'. Do you remember what I told you before? I'm your teacher, and I give you assignments and tell you what to do and you do it. You don't get to decide that you're 'not in the mood' or that you 'don't feel like it'. You can do the work I give you, or you can refuse, and then do the work I give you with a sore butt. But you will do your work," he raised his eyebrows and gave me a look, "So which is it, Charlotte Anne? Are you going to finish your math assignment with or without a sore butt today?"

I looked up at him- he looked totally serious- and gulped. "Uh, without, Uncle Sam," I did not want his humongous hand spanking my bottom anytime soon!

"Then get back to it," he said, and he walked over and sat down to start looking at his laptop again. I sighed and picked up the tablet.

I managed to get through the math assignment, and by the time I was finished it was time for dinner. Uncle Sam got a phone call while we were eating and I heard him saying, "We wanted to ask you some questions about the house, is there a time we could get together?" as he got up and walked into the other room.

He came back in a few minutes. "Dean, do you want to go talk to the woman tonight about the house?"

"Sure," Daddy said.

Uncle Sam pressed a button on his phone. "That's fine," he said, "We'll see you then." He disconnected the call and pocketed his phone, sitting down at the table again.

"Eight o'clock," he told Daddy.

"Is that the haunted house? Can I go?" I looked at both of them. "Pleeeeease?"

Daddy frowned at me. "Charlotte Anne, if you ask one more time I'm going to turn you over my knee," he told me, "I'm tired of you bugging me about it. The answer is, and will always be, no, so stop asking. You got it?"

I felt my face get red. I wanted to protest, but I didn't want to get spanked, so I said, "Yes, Daddy." I looked down at my plate and then up at him again. "Eight o'clock? Who's going to put me to bed?"

"Grandpa John will be here," Daddy said.

"That's fine," Grandpa John smiled at me.

After dinner I read one of my library books. Daddy came over to me, with a duffle slung over his shoulder. "We're leaving now," he told me, leaning down to me. I put my book down and reached up to hug him.

"Be good for your Gramps," Daddy said, kissing the side on my head. Uncle Sam came over and hugged me too, dropping a kiss on the top of my head.

Grandpa John sat down next to me and turned on the t.v. looking for a baseball game.

"Fifteen minutes and then you have to get ready for bed," he told me.

"Okay," I agreed, moving next to him and scooting under his elbow. He moved so that his arm was behind me on the back of the sofa and I curled into his side.

I looked over at his arm. He was wearing a short-sleeved olive green t-shirt that said "USMC" on it.

"What's that?" I pointed to the mark on his upper arm, partially hidden by the sleeve of his shirt.

"Oh, that's my military tattoo," he told me, "All of the guys in the battalion got one before we shipped out."

"You were really in a real war?" I asked curiously.

He looked down at me, and I couldn't really read his expression.

"Yes, I was," he said.

"Was it scary? Were you scared?"

He shifted on the sofa. "Well, yes, it was scary, and there were times that I was scared, but in a situation like that, you've learned to not let that fear come to the surface. I was only focused on fighting the enemy and leading my men. That's what you have to do, in order to get through it. And we did make it through and most of us came home safely."

"I'm glad you came home," I slid my arm around his chest and hugged him.

He moved his arm down and hugged me. "Me too, little one, me too," he said quietly.

After several minutes had gone by, he patted my shoulder. "Go get ready for bed now," he told me, "Do you need help with anything?"

"No, I got it," I closed my book and set it on the table, then stood up. When I had finished with my bedtime routine I came to the door of the bedroom. "I'm ready," I told Grandpa John.

As he came into the room I jumped onto the end of the bed and bounced a couple of times before crawling up to the head of the bed. He smiled at me, but he had a faraway look in his eyes.

"What?" I asked him.

"I was just thinking of your Dad and Sam, when they were little, getting them ready for bed. Two little boys-" he shook his head, "there was always rough-housing and goofing around going on...and I wasn't always as patient with them as I should have been."

"They were bad?" I asked.

"No, not bad, just being typical silly little boys. And after...after their mother passed, I wasn't able to...deal with them as well as I had. It changed when they got a little older."

He sighed, and leaned down to hug me. "Good night, little one," he said quietly, kissing my forehead. I laid down and he pulled the covers up.

 

I woke up later, hearing the door of the hotel open. I heard keys being set down and expected Daddy to come into the room, but he didn't. I opened my eyes a little bit just in time to see Uncle Sam standing in the doorway of the bedroom for a moment, then he walked away and I heard him open the door to his bedroom. Then I thought I heard the sound of Baby's engine driving away again.

I woke up again in the early morning- it was just starting to get light in the room. I heard keys hitting a table, and then soft footsteps. I opened my eyes again and saw Daddy coming into the bedroom. His shirt was untucked and unbuttoned, and he went straight into the bathroom and then I heard the shower turn on. I wanted to ask him where he had been, but I fell asleep.

 

 

"Here's the beer," Daddy set a case on the counter.

"Great," Lisa said, her eyes shining. "The grill is almost ready for the steaks," she turned and picked something up, and looked at all of us.

"Having a dinner to celebrate my promotion was just an excuse to get you over here," she said, handing Daddy a paper. "Congratulations, Dad!" she said with a big smile.

Daddy's eyes flicked down the paper. "Is this... it's... it IS!" he looked up at Lisa and gave her a huge smile back. "Oh, my... WOW!" he grabbed her up in a hug.

"What is it, Mom?" Ben asked.

Daddy and Lisa hugged for a long moment, and when they pulled back, they kissed.

Then they let go of each other and Lisa turned to Ben. "I got the test results back, and Dean is your Dad, Ben!" she said happily. Both her eyes and Daddy's eyes were shiny with tears.

"Well, how about that," Uncle Sam said, and he and Grandpa John smiled. Daddy passed the paper to them and they each looked at it.

"C'mere, Ben," Daddy said. He leaned down and hugged Ben, picking him up off the floor for a second. Then he pulled back and look at him, still smiling.

"So...you're my Dad?" Ben asked slowly, "Do I have to call you that?"

"You can call me Dean or Dad, whatever you're comfortable with," Daddy told him. He came over to me and picked me up, hugging me too. "You have a brother, Charlie!" he said. "What do you think?"

"I already knew that, Daddy," I said, and everyone laughed.

"Who's going to be the grillmaster?" Lisa asked.

"Uh, I've only done burgers on the grill- Dad, how are you with steak?" Daddy asked.

"Sure, I'll do it," Grandpa John said.

We went out back and Uncle Sam helped Lisa bring food out to the table on the back deck. Daddy started to throw a football with Ben.

"Hey, can I play too?" I asked.

"Sure," Ben said, tossing it to me. The next time he threw it, he threw it harder, and it landed right on my stomach.

"Oof!" I said as I caught it.

"Ben, watch it," Daddy said.

"I'm okay," I said, and I tried to throw the ball hard at Ben. It went right into the ground.

"What was that?" Ben laughed as he ran towards it.

"Lemme try again!" I exclaimed, running to the ball.

We both dove for the ball and our heads bonked together- it hurt! I sat down on my butt hard and burst into tears. Ben was sitting next to me with a dazed look on his face.

Daddy knelt down next to me. "Charlie! Are you okay?" he looked over at Ben. "You okay, buddy?" he asked.

Lisa came hurrying over to us. "Oh geez, are you both hurt?" she asked with concern.

Ben and I sat on the deck holding ice packs to our foreheads until dinner was cooked and served. By that time my head had stopped hurting. We both had a bump, although Ben's was more noticeable, since my bangs covered mine.

After we ate, Lisa opened a bottle of wine and they brought out the case of beer that Daddy had brought. They all moved over from the table, to the comfortable chairs that were on the other side of the deck, and sat around talking.

Ben motioned me inside with his head, and I followed him to the living room.

He looked out the front window. "Hey, Tyler's in his yard, let's go tell him," Ben said.

"Shouldn't we ask our parents if we can go?" I asked.

"Nah, they're all gonna be sitting around talking forever like grown-ups do. We're only going to be gone for a minute, they won't even notice," Ben said confidently.

We walked outside and crossed the street. I noticed that Ben didn't look both ways. I tried to hold his hand but he was hurrying, so I couldn't.

"Hey, Ty!" Ben greeted him.

Tyler was tossing a Nerf football in the air. "S'up, dude?" he asked.

"Guess what, Charlie's my sister for real," Ben said, "And that guy Dean is my Dad!"

"Cool," Tyler said, looking at me, "Are you gonna be one of those okay little sisters who's cool with everything, or are you one of those who's gonna tattle and rat Ben out all the time?"

"Nah, she's cool," Ben said.

"Dean looks like he could be kinda, y' know, like one of those guys who yells all the time and all. Real serious," Tyler said, and both he and Ben looked at me expectantly.

"Uh, he can be, but he's nice too," I told them, "He takes me to mini-golf and stuff."

"He is kinda serious," Ben agreed, "But it's 'cause of what he does- look at this!" he pulled something out of his pockets. He had the EMF meter and the Ambient Temperature Meter.

I was shocked. "Ben, where did you get them?"

"Dean left them on the counter the other night," he said, handing me the Ambient Temperature Meter.

"You- you shouldn't have taken them!" I told him.

"I told you, Charlie, s' okay. They took the case of beer onto the deck, they'll be sitting out there all night."

"Oh, yeah, once the grownups get into the beer or the box of wine, they're not gettin' up for anything," Tyler agreed, "What does that stuff do?"

"Checks for energy fluctuations!" Ben said.

"Say what now?" Tyler frowned.

"To see if there's ghosts!" Ben said excitedly, "C'mon, let's go check somewhere!"

"Ooh, I know," Tyler's eyes lit up, "We can go down the street to that house that's been vacant for the past 6 months, 'member the guy that just disappeared? Some people say that he died in the house and the government came and took the body out in the middle of the night!"

"All right, this is gonna be freakin' cool!" Ben exclaimed, and they started walking.

I trotted behind them, hurrying to keep up. "Guys, come on, we're not allowed to have these, and didn't your mom say we weren't s'posed to go into any empty houses?" I asked Ben's back.

The boys stopped. "It's fiiiine," Tyler said exaggeratedly, "Lemme see that."

He grabbed the Ambient Temperature Meter out of my hand and turned the knob on the side.

"Wait," I said, "That's not how you do it-"

The screen lit up briefly and Tyler twisted the dial under the screen. It popped off into his hand. "Oh crap," he said. "Here, take this," he shoved it at Ben and Ben stuffed it into his pocket.

We were at the end of a sidewalk. I followed the boys up to the front porch, where the bushes were so overgrown that you could barely see off of the porch.

"I'm not sure how this works-" Ben said, fiddling with the EMF meter.

I took it from him. "I watched Daddy testing it," I told him, "You gotta press the button on the side to turn it on," I did so, and after a moment, the device lit up. "Then you set the dial, what direction you're walking in, and hold it out like this-" I turned the top dial and then held it out in front of me. The machine made a little chirping sound and the lights blinked. Ben took it back from me and held it out in front of him.

"Awesome! I get to use it first!" Tyler said, "Ready?"

He stepped up to the door and turned the doorknob."Brian said you have to jiggle it—just-right-" he said, tilting his head.

Then the door opened inward, and a gust of stale, warm air puffed out over us from inside the house. The three of us looked at each other.

Tyler stepped into the house and turned to look at us. "Well?" he said.

Ben took a step toward the door, and then I could hear murmured voices behind us, on the street.

"Ben! Charlie!" Lisa and Daddy called.

I looked at Ben and my mouth went dry. He looked at me with a nervous look on his face.

Then they must have seen us, because they were there at the end of the sidewalk, and I heard, "Benjamin Isaac Braeden!" and "Charlotte Anne Winchester!" at the same time.

I turned to see Daddy and Lisa stalking up the walkway. They both looked mad. I saw Daddy's eyes widen. "Ben, what the hell is in your hand?" he growled, seeing that Ben had his EMF meter.

Daddy saw that Tyler was standing inside the doorway of the house. "All right, kid, come outta there," he snapped his fingers and pointed at the sidewalk, "Let's go."

Daddy took my hand as we walked back to Tyler's house. Ben and I had to wait on the front porch while Lisa and Daddy went inside and talked to Tyler's parents. We heard raised voices every once in a while.

When they came out onto the porch, Daddy said, "Ben, empty your pockets."

Ben gulped and pulled the other device out, handing Daddy the dial that had come off.

"You're lucky that this dial always comes off, boy," Daddy growled at him. We crossed the street, me holding Daddy's hand and Lisa holding Ben's shoulder.

When we got into the living room, Daddy said,"Sit," and pointed to the sofa.

Ben walked over and sat down, and I sat next to him. I put my hands in between my knees and swallowed nervously.

Daddy and Lisa stood there together, their faces still angry. Daddy had that line in between his brows and his jaw was tense.

"Benjamin, I've told you more than once- more than once-- not to go into any of the empty houses in the neighborhood, AND you know you're not to just go running off to your friend's house without asking me first-"

"But Mom, it was only gonna be for a sec-" Ben whined.

Lisa put her hand up. "Ah-ah, I don't want to hear that. You know that excuse does not fly with me, buddy," she said, "Not only did you do both of those things, you took Charlie along with you, and you cannot do that!" She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him. "You have to think about her safety as well as your own now, Ben, she's your little sister and you need to take care of her!"

Ben glanced at me, and then looked down at his lap. "Oh, yeah," he said.

"And then, Ben, you took expensive equipment that wasn't yours and took it to show off to someone and they broke it!" Lisa said.

Daddy held up the EMF device. "Where did this come from, Ben?" he asked.

"Uh, you, uh, you left your stuff here the other night when you and Sam stopped by," Ben said, blushing, "I, uh, I wanted to show Tyler, I thought he'd think it was cool, y' know?" He glanced at me again.

Lisa huffed angrily and shook her head. Ben seemed to shrink in on himself.

Daddy set the EMF meter on the coffee table. "The equipment is off limits," he said sternly, "Completely and totally, Ben. Charlie already knows this. You do not go into the trunk of my car, and you do not ever mess with any equipment or weapons of any kind. Ever. You got it?"

"Uh, yeah," Ben said, still looking down at his lap.

"Now, you need to start thinking like a big brother," Daddy told him, "You need to keep an eye on Charlie and watch out for her, and not do things that put her in danger. Both of you need to watch out for each other, but you're the older brother now, so it's your job to keep her safe and make sure she doesn't get hurt."

"When we realized you were gone, the first thing I thought of was- was when you were gone earlier in the summer, and I thought it had happened again-" Lisa got tears in her eyes.

Daddy put his hand on her arm. "It's all right, Lis," he said comfortingly.

He turned his head to look at us. "I'm disappointed in both of you," he said, "What were you thinking? You scared the crap out of both of us, because we thought of when you both disappeared and Charlie got taken. Do NOT do anything like that ever again."

"I'm going to spank you this time, Ben, but if you mess with any of Dean's stuff again, you're all his," Lisa said sternly.

"Uh-" Ben looked up, panic in his face, looking from Daddy to Lisa.

"Go to your room, young man," she said.

Ben stood up and trudged out of the room, head down. Lisa followed him.

Daddy crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, little girl, let's talk about you," he said, frowning at me, "What in the world were you thinking?"

"I- I- it happened so fast, I told Ben that we should ask you guys to go see his friend and he said we didn't have to, and we left, and then he had brought the 'quipment with him, and, and he and Tyler just decided to go down the street, and Tyler took the thing outta my hand-"

Daddy interrupted my nervous babble. "Well, Charlie, at any point during all of this, did it occur to you to leave? To tell Ben that you were coming back here? Or take the equipment back and tell Ben no?"

I felt my face getting red. "Uh, no."

"Charlie, you broke rules, more than one. You know you are not to go wandering off, and you're not supposed to be fooling with the equipment! Tyler said you were the one who turned on the EMF and showed them how to use it!" He glared at me and I felt myself cringing a little bit. "And I'm especially upset with you because you ran off again without a thought of how that would affect any of us, after what happened to you before!"

"I'm sorry, Daddy," I whispered.

He walked over and sat next to me. "You're getting a spanking too."

"But- but Daddyyyy, they'll all know!" I whined.

"Little girl, the automatic assumption when we discovered that the two of you had left again was that if you were okay, you were both going to end up getting your butts warmed tonight," he patted his thigh, "Let's get this over with."

"Wait, I-" I put my hand up. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "Daddy, I—can't- you- I don't-"

He shook his head. "No, Charlie, come on," he said, and he tilted me forward over his lap and began to spank me.

I burst into tears right after the first swat fell, I was feeling all jumbled up inside, scared because I had disobeyed, guilt because I had worried them, and nervous because I'd been bad and I knew it, and we'd gotten caught, and a little unsure of how I felt about Ben now.

I tried not to make any noise because I knew that Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were around somewhere, and Ben and Lisa were upstairs, and who knew what they could hear. But as Daddy's hand continued to fall and as the sting built up I couldn't help but cry out, "Daddy pleeeeeeeaase I'm sorry!"

"Don't you ever go somewhere without asking me ever again," he said suddenly, and his voice was hard, "And don't you ever mess with the equipment ever again," all of a sudden the swats were falling harder and faster and I was struggling and kicking my feet. "You are not going to be a hunter or be in the life at all, do you understand me?" he said, and his voice was loud and stern and scary.

"Yes, Daddy, I'm sorry! I'm sorryyyy!" I howled, trying to get away from his falling palm. I tried to roll off of his lap and shrieked when he smacked the side of my bottom. "No, little girl, be still," he said sternly. He pulled me closer to his hip, holding me down over his knees.

Then he stopped for a moment. "I will not lose you," he said hoarsely, "Not to hunting, not to anything. And you will not do things to put yourself in harm's way any more, you go it?" He tilted me forward and I wrapped my arm around his leg. His hand fell a few times on the lowest part of my bottom as I wailed wordlessly.

He pulled me up into his arms and hugged me tightly, pressing my face to his chest. "I love you, Charlie, and I'm going to keep you safe and make sure you stay safe too," he told me. He stroked my hair back from my face until I had calmed down.

"M' sorry, Daddy," I whispered again. "I love you too."

He leaned over and pulled a tissue out of the box on the table. He held it up in front of my face and said, "Blow."

I took it out of his hand. "I'm not a baby, ya know," I said, and I wiped my cheeks and blew my nose.

"Yes you are, you're my baby," he said, "You're still my girl, Charlie." He smoothed my hair back from my face. "Things are going to be a little different with Ben around, and you need to learn to trust your instincts, and do the right thing. Don't just go along with him because he's older and he's your brother. I want you two to look out for each other, but if he's doing something wrong and he's not listening to you, then you have to come find an adult on your own. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," I agreed. He kissed my cheek.

"Lisa's got strawberry shortcake for dessert and you can put vanilla pudding on it too, if you want. Let's go get you some."

I stood up and followed Daddy out to the back deck. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were sitting there, and they both looked at us.

"Don't you scare us like that again, little girl," Grandpa John said in a stern voice. He leaned over and took my wrist, pulling me to him, and I got nervous that he was going to spank me too. He put his arms around me and hugged me. "Don't want to lose you, sweetheart," he said gruffly.

"'M' sorry," I said, leaning my head against him.

"Come sit, Charlie," Daddy served me some dessert and set it on the table.

I sat down as Ben and Lisa came out onto the deck. Ben came and sat next to me, sniffling, and Daddy served him too.

"I'm going to start putting the food away," Lisa said.

"I'll go check that the grill's completely out," Grandpa John got up and walked down to the yard.

Daddy and Uncle Sam started to help Lisa carry empty bottles and plates into the kitchen.

I looked at Ben. "You okay?" I asked.

His eyes were red and his lashes stuck together with tears. "Yeah," he swiped the back of his hand across his face, "Wow, Mom really busted my butt good this time. Most times it doesn't really hurt, y' know?"

"Really?" my eyes widened in surprise. I couldn't imagine getting a spanking that didn't hurt!

"Yeah," Ben shrugged, "Mom thinks she's all tough but she's really not, sometimes."

My mouth dropped open.

Ben gave me a worried look. "Why, do Dean's hurt?"

I nodded hard, "A lot, Daddy's spankings always make me cry," I told him.

A concerned grimace crossed Ben's face. "Dang," he said.

We started to eat our dessert, shifting every once in a while to try and find a comfortable spot on the hard wood bench.

The door to the deck opened. "Finish up and bring your plates in," Lisa told us. "Ben, you've got an early game tomorrow, so no staying up late tonight."

"Aw Mom!" Ben protested, getting up. "I'm s'posed to get online with my friends at 9:30!" he complained.

"Well, that's too bad," she said, "The game is more important than the computer."

"I can stay up late and still be fine tomorrow," he grumbled, glaring at her.

Lisa put her hand on her hip. "Excuse me? Do I need to send you back upstairs for another round, little boy?"

Ben glanced at me and blushed. "No," he said sullenly. As he walked by her into the kitchen she swatted his butt again.

I followed Ben and took my plate over to the sink. Uncle Sam was standing there, and he took it from me and rinsed it, loading it into the dishwasher.

"Thanks, Sam," Lisa said. We all stood around looking at each other.

"Well, Ben, say goodnight to your sister and Dad and Uncle and Grandfather," Lisa said, smiling at us, "I didn't think when Dean came back into my life that Ben was going to get an instant family."

"Well, they're your family too," Daddy hugged Lisa, and kissed her cheek.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John hugged Lisa too, and then I hugged her.

"I'm glad that you're Ben's sister," she said to me, "I think the two of you are going to have a lot of fun together."

 

 

"Charlie," Uncle Sam called to me. I ran over to him.

"Aww, do we have to go already?" I asked.

"No, Grandpa John and I are leaving, we're going to go to the library and do some research." Uncle Sam leaned down and hugged me.

Grandpa John came over and ruffled my hair. "Be good," he said.

"I will, see ya!" I turned and ran back towards Ben and his team-mates.

Ben's team had won the game, and everyone had gone to the playground afterwards. It was a very hot day and everyone was sweaty.

The coach brought over a cooler full of drinks, and I walked over with Ben.

"Can my sister have one?" Ben asked.

His coach nodded at me.

Ben's team-mate Ian grabbed another bottle and opened it, dumping it on one of the other boys. I ran over to the side of the playground as a bunch of the boys started throwing ice and dumping their drinks on each other. A few of the parents ran over and started to scold them.

"Why did you have to dump the red drink on him, red is going to be so hard to get out of that white uniform!" Ian's mom yelled.

Lisa and Daddy had come over too. "Benjamin! You know better than that!" she scolded.

"Aww Mom, alls I did was throw some ice," he complained.

Lisa continued, "And once again, you just join in without thinking. Didn't we talk about this? Using your head and thinking before you just jump into a situation?"

Ben glared at her. "I don't need a lecture right now, Mom!" he yelled.

"Ben! You do not raise your voice to your mother!" Daddy snapped, "Apologize to her right now!"

Ben threw a sulky look at Daddy. "Sorry," he muttered.

Lisa took Ben's upper arm. "Oh, you're going to be plenty sorry when I get done with you, young man," she said tightly, "Let's go. Dean, Charlie, I'll see you later."

Daddy turned to me. "All right, kiddo, we might as well go too."

"But Daddy, I don't wanna, I want to stay." I said.

"No, it's getting really hot, and the sun is right overhead, and you're getting red. I didn't think we'd be out here for this long, and I didn't bring your sunscreen. Come on."

"Not fair!" I pouted.

He turned and started to walk to the car. He stopped when he noticed I wasn't walking with him. He turned back to me. "Charlie, let's go."

I looked at him. "It's not fair that I gotta leave 'cause of your dumb mistake!" I yelled.

"Excuse me?" he said, and his face got mad, "You do not talk to me like that, little girl. Come on, let's go," He pointed to the ground in front of him. "NOW," he said sternly.

I stomped over to him.

"You keep this up, and Ben's not the only one who will be getting a spanking later," Daddy said.

I grumbled as I got into the back seat of the car.

Daddy turned to me after he got in. "What did you say?" he asked me.

"I said it's not fair I had to leave the playground and sit in a freakin' hot car!"

His eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together.

"One more thing, Charlie, and you will be taking a trip across my knee," he said, "You got it?"

"Yes," I snapped, turning to look out the window.

When we got into the hotel room, we went to the kitchen, and Daddy said, "I'm going to make lunch for us, and then I want you to lay down and rest."

I stomped my foot. "Whyyyy?" I whined.

"Because of your attitude. You're very cranky, and I think you're tired. A nap won't hurt anything."

"I don't wanna take a nap!" I grumped, frowning at him.

"Well, you're going to," he told me, "Is peanut butter and jelly okay today?"

I glared at him. "No! I'm tired of sandwiches, they're gross and yucky, and I'm not gonna eat any ever again, and I'm not taking a damn nap like a damn baby!" I clenched my fists and stomped my feet over and over.

Daddy's eyes got big, and his jaw twitched. "What did I tell you?" he asked, "What did I tell you before, Charlie?" he repeated in a stronger voice.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I don't want a spankin' either!"

"No, little girl, quite some time ago. I told you one more bad word and I was going to wash your mouth out with soap," he said sternly.

I started to feel a little bit nervous. "Uh—no, you—you can't!"

"Excuse me?" he said, raising his eyebrows, "You don't tell me what I can and can't do," he said, pulling the chair out from the kitchen table. "Get over here," he said, sitting down.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I told you to! Because you've been behaving horribly all morning, and now you're going to get a spanking!" he yelled, "Now—come here."

I dragged my feet over to him. "Daaaaaddyyyy-" I started to whine.

"I don't want to hear it," he said in an angry voice. "You are getting a spanking, and then you're getting your mouth washed out."

"What?" I asked in a panic, as he turned me over his lap. I fought him, and he put his leg over top of mine and held me against his side.

"Enough with the sassing, enough with the attitude, enough with the nastiness, enough with the tantrums," he lectured as his hand landed several stinging swats on my bottom. I started to cry and kick my feet.

"And no—more—bad-language!" Each word was punctuated by a swat right on the lowest part of my bottom where you sit, and I wailed loudly.

Then he was letting me up and standing me in front of him. He pointed to the bathroom. "Get your butt in there, little girl."

I stared up at him, fear twisting my tummy. He couldn't! He wouldn't!

"I-I-" I stuttered nervously.

He swatted my butt again and I stumbled forward a step.

"GO. NOW."


	50. Chapter 50

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Charlie gets her mouth washed out with soap in this chapter. DO NOT READ if this will bother or offend you.  
> ***************

I stood there, stock-still, looking up at Daddy. He took my upper arm in his hand, and steered me into the bathroom.

He plunked me down on the closed toilet seat and then opened the cabinet, taking out a fresh bar of soap and unwrapping it. He turned on the faucet and held the white bar under the tap, turning it to make it get all sudsy.

I stared up at him. "You- you can't- this isn't—I'm not gonna!" I exclaimed.

"Oh yeah?" he looked down at me, "We'll see about that," he said angrily.

He turned off the faucet and held the bar up to my mouth. "Open," he said.

I turned my head to the side, saying, "Mm-mm!"

"I said open," he said in a hard voice.

I didn't do or say anything, just folded my arms over my chest.

He sighed and put the soap on the edge of the counter, then he pulled me to a standing position and turned me to face the sink, bending me forwards and holding me there with his hand on my back. He started spanking me, slowly, and I whimpered with each swat, tears starting to gather in my eyes. The sound of the swats echoed loudly off the bathroom walls.

He stopped, and leaned down to me. "You're going to open your mouth, and hold the bar of soap in there until I tell you otherwise, do you understand?"

"Mmmm," I turned my head away from him and shook my head no. Anxious butterflies danced in my tummy.

He swatted me again, harder, and I made another sound in the back of my throat. Tears started to drip down my cheeks.

"OPEN," he said, and his voice was very loud and stern.

I leaned away from him and whimpered again.

"Do I need to get the paddle? Because I will, and then we'll try this again after I've paddled your butt."

I gulped. I did not want the paddle, ever again!

I turned my head back to him, and opened my mouth. Tears were falling and my tummy got an anxious knot in it as I stood there waiting.

He turned on the faucet again and ran the bar under the water for a moment, making more bubbles form, and then he stuck the bar in my mouth.

"Close," he said, and I closed my mouth on the bar of soap. My teeth sunk into it just a little bit. It tasted just like it smelled, and there was a little hint of a sting-y sensation, and it felt slimy and gross against my tongue. I could feel saliva gathering in my mouth, and I leaned my head over the sink, watching the tears drip off my face onto the soap suds that were at the bottom.

I saw him glance at his watch.

"Now," he said firmly, "I don't ever want to hear you using a curse word ever again, or any other words like freakin' or dangit. You're a little girl, and you shouldn't be saying any words like that at all. If you use bad language again, I will get out the paddle, and you'll get your butt paddled as well as getting your mouth washed out again. Have I made myself clear?"

I nodded slightly, afraid to move my head much. I didn't want to risk the soap falling out of my mouth and then having him put it back in my mouth.

I stood there, shifting my weight, feeling more and more guilty and bad. I was glad Uncle Sam and Grandpa John weren't here, I felt so embarrassed and ashamed by this. I blinked, feeling the tears slide down my cheeks.

Daddy glanced at his watch again.

"All right, open," he said. I opened my mouth and he removed the soap and put the bar on the edge of the sink.

I looked up at him through tear filled eyes, waiting to hear what he was going to say next. My chin was dripping.

He turned on the tap, "Go ahead and rinse," he said, and I leaned over and cupped my hand under the faucet and swished and spit and rinsed and swished and spit some more. My mouth still tasted yucky and the sting-y feeling was still on my tongue.

"What do you have to say to me?" he aked sternly.

"Uh- I'm, I'm sorry for cussing, and for sassing you so much, and I, I won't say any more cusses or bad words ever ever," I said, sniffling.

"Good." he turned off the faucet and put his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go," he said, and we walked back out to the bedroom. I wasn't sure if he was going to spank me again or hug me, but he walked me over to the corner.  
"You're going to stand here for a few minutes and think about things," he said. I heard him walk back into the bathroom and the faucet running for a moment, and then a thunk, as he threw the bar of soap into the trash can.

I stood in the corner, staring at the yellowish walls, and wiped my chin off with my shirt. The front was damp from where the soap and water had dripped on it.

I licked my lips, still tasting a little bit of the soapy taste, and felt ashamed again. Why did I have to push Daddy like that? Why did I have to keep being bad and getting into trouble? Tears started to pour down my cheeks and I bowed my head.

I still got mad about all the rules sometimes, because I had grown up without any at all and I had liked that freedom. But then it had made me sad when Mommy got sick, because even though I could do whatever I wanted, sometimes it felt like no-one cared about me. I knew that my Mommy did, but she was too sick to do anything. Having Daddy and Uncle Sam take care of me was something I liked, and the rules that they gave me did make me feel good even if I didn't like them all the time. I thought back to before, after I'd gotten out of the hospital, and I was being allowed to do anything and act however I wanted.

I hadn't realized it at the time but it had made me feel confused and that had made me act even more obnoxious because I had wanted someone to do something, anything, to stop me. I had felt like I wasn't in control and I didn't like that feeling, and it felt better now that Daddy was acting the way he had acted when I first came to live with him. He was kinda strict, and there were lots of rules, but I knew now that I did need those rules, they were there to keep me safe and to get me back in line. I had had to take care of Mommy and myself, and I couldn't act like a kid, or be naughty or have a tantrum, because Mommy needed me. Sometimes it felt good in a way to misbehave now, because I knew that Daddy and Uncle Sam were there to help me to behave again, and that was how they took care of me, I didn't have to take care of them.

I was crying harder now and I lifted my shirt up and wiped my face, sniffling hard. I didn't like being bad, and I didn't like getting into trouble, but I felt better about myself now, living with rules, than I had when I was with Mommy. I loved Daddy, even when he was being stern and growly, because I knew that it was because he loved me, not because he was being mean.

Finally I heard Daddy say, "Come here, Charlie."

I turned away from the corner- he was sitting on the edge of the bed. I wondered for a second if he was going to put me back over his knees, but I didn't care, I just wanted to be with him.

I ran over and threw myself at him, curling up in his lap.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" I wailed, bursting into tears again.

He put his arms around me and pulled me close. "It's all right, Charlie," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry I was so bad! I'm suh- huh- orrryyyyy!" my chest heaved as I sobbed.

"It's all right now, it's been dealt with and it's over, shh," he murmured.

I put one arm around him and gripped the back of his shirt and fisted the front of his flannel with my other hand, burying my face in his chest. I cried and cried, letting the guilt and shame go.

"Shh, baby, it's okay, you're not bad," Daddy murmured, trying to comfort me. "You still need reminders of the rules from time to time, and that's my job, to remind you. You're a good girl, sweetheart. It's all right now." I felt him rubbing my back and stroking my hair. After a long time, I was finally calm. I did feel like everything was all right again.

I had started to doze slightly when Daddy shifted on the bed. "You want to lay down for a while?" he asked softly.

"Mm-hmm," I murmured.

"Let me get you a new shirt, yours is all wet," he said. I got off of his lap and crawled up to the head of the bed. He took another t-shirt out of my duffle and brought it over to me, pulling my shirt over my head and helping me put my arms in the sleeves. Then he handed me a box of tissues so I could wipe my face and blow my nose. He put the other shirt on the dresser and came back to the bed.

I reached up and took his wrist. "Stay," I said.

"All right," he said, and he sat down next to me. I crawled back into his lap and snuggled against his chest, and fell asleep listening to his heartbeat.

I woke up alone on the bed. Daddy and Uncle Sam were in the kitchen. There was a box of funny looking salt, it was big and chunky, and a towel spread out, and little tubes on the towel. There was a measuring spoon and a small funnel next to the box of salt.

Daddy was sitting at the table, and I watched him dip the measuring spoon into the box, put the funnel into a small tube, and then pour the salt in.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Both Daddy and Uncle Sam looked over at me.

"I'm filling shotgun shells with rock salt," Daddy told me, "Refilling our supplies."

I was curious if it was going to be for the haunted house they were investigating, but Daddy had told me not to ask about it again, so I didn't.

Uncle Sam had one of the small electronic devices on the kitchen counter, and it was in pieces, and he was leaning over it and fiddling with it.

Daddy scooted his chair back and set the funnel and spoon down. "Come here, sweetheart," he said, and I went to him. He pulled me into his arms and hugged me, and I hugged him back. He pulled back and looked at me.

"You doing okay?" he asked gently.

"Yes, Daddy," I nodded.

"Let me finish a few more of these and we can go get dinner," he told me, "Pizza okay tonight?"

"Yes, Daddy," I repeated.

The device on the counter chirped and buzzed, and Uncle Sam said, "All right, I think I got it. Hopefully it won't jam any more."

I walked over to him and watched as he began to put the parts of the machine back in place. Uncle Sam's big fingers looked funny moving all the tiny wires and parts around but he put everything back gently and quickly.

"How did you learn how to do that?" I asked.

"We have a friend who is a tech guy who knows how to fix computers and electronics, he showed me," he said, glancing at me, "and a couple of other hunters know how to do this kind of thing too."

"Funny how the younger generation of hunters seems to be better at the tech stuff," Daddy commented.

Uncle Sam put the back on the machine and picked up a tiny screwdriver. "Not really, think about it, Dad's generation didn't have things like computers and cell phones, so they're not used to those things and it's hard for them to get used to."

Daddy scoffed. "Some of 'em got used to that stuff, and some of 'em didn't."

Uncle Sam chuckled. "Well, we know Dad just isn't a computer guy."

"You got that right," Daddy started to pack the bullets into a small cardboard box. "Why don't you go tell Grandpa John that we're going to leave soon?" he asked me.

"Yes, Daddy," I said, and I walked over to the other room.

Grandpa John was sitting at the desk writing in a thick book. He looked up as I walked in.

"Hey, darlin'," he said to me.

"Daddy said to let you know that we're going to go out soon, to get pizza."

"All right, let me finish this," he said.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Writing in my journal," he told me, "All hunters have a journal for writing about their hunts and other information."

"Cool!" I said, "Can I have a journal too?"

"Well, you're not a hunter, but if you wanted to get a journal and use it like a diary, I'm sure that would be okay."

"Can I pretend that I'm a hunter?"

Something in Grandpa John's face changed. "Sweetheart, that's not a good idea. None of us want that life for you-"

"But why not? You're all hunters, what's so bad about it?"

Now he looked uncomfortable. "It's not that it's... bad, but there are dangers involved, and-"

"You ready?" Daddy asked from the door. He saw Grandpa John's face. "What are we talking about?" he asked, coming over to us.

"Charlie wants a journal and to pretend that it's a hunter's journal, and I'm just explaining why that's not a good idea, and why the hunting life wouldn't be-"

"Dammit, Charlie!" Daddy exploded, "How many times do I have to tell you, you will NOT be a hunter! Not ever, little girl, and if I find out that you're pretending to be one, you'll have trouble sitting after I'm done with you, you got that?"

I stepped back from Daddy's intensity and Grandpa John pulled me over to him and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Dean, stand down, she didn't say anything about wanting to hunt!" Grandpa John's voice was low.

Daddy looked at both of us. "I'm not going to allow her to do anything where she puts herself in danger," he bit out slowly, "I'm not going to lose her."

He turned and started to stalk away.

"Daddy!" I called, starting to cry. I ran after him and grabbed onto his arm. "Daddy, I'm sorry, I won't!"

He turned suddenly and I half expected him to spank me, but instead he grabbed me up in a fierce hug.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," I sniffled.

"Shh, baby, I'm sorry," he murmured, holding me tightly. "It's just- I almost lost you once and I don't ever want to go through that again."

"I—I won't pretend, or anything, I promise-"

"Shh, it's all right," he said.

"Are we all ready?" Uncle Sam asked from the doorway. "What's going on here?"

Daddy gave me one last squeeze and set me down.

"Nothing, we're fine," he said, taking my hand.

We went to the same restaurant that Daddy and I had gone with Lisa and Ben. After we had ordered, Daddy said to me, "I have a surprise for you, Charlie."

I looked at him. "What?"

He took a piece of paper out of his pocket and slid it across the table at me.

It was a brochure for something called "Big Bear Cabins Indoor Water Park and Resort". I opened it up and looked at the photos, and looked back at him.

"Lisa and I are taking you and Ben there this weekend, as a "family bonding" trip!" Daddy smiled.

"Wow," I said, "Is it like a 'musement park?"

"Kindof, it's an indoor water park with lots of water rides, and there's a hotel attached, and they have other things to do there like an arcade, a spa, a mini movie theater, and a couple places to eat. You don't have to leave the whole time you're there."

"Wow, that sounds cool! I've never been to a water park!"

"Should be interesting," Uncle Sam said, "Are there places for the grown-ups to get away?"

"As a matter of fact, there is an "adults only" hot tub area where you can drink alcohol," Daddy told him with a grin, "And you can bet that Lisa and me'll be taking full advantage of that!"

"Hmm, are you and Lisa getting...close?" Uncle Sam raised his eyebrow.

Daddy shifted in this seat. "No, we're just...bonding over the fact that we have kids now, you know?"

"Okay," Uncle Sam chuckled.

"Just watch yourself, Dean," Grandpa John said, "It's going to be a lot harder for people to pick up the pieces if you fall back on your 'love 'em and leave'em routine."

"Dad, I'm not in high school any more," Daddy said defensively.

"Uh, you continued that well after high school, dude," Uncle Sam said, shaking his head, "You're notorious for finding a bar in whatever city we're in and-"

"All right, all right, can we not talk about that any more?" There was a slight blush on Daddy's face. "Things have changed now."

"Well, I certainly hope they have. I hope you have, because it's not just the girl's heart you'll break this time if things go south," Grandpa John said.

"All right, I get it, geez," Daddy said, "Can we drop it?"

The waitress came to the table with the pizza and set in down in the middle.

After we had started eating, Daddy said, "And since it's right before Hallowe'en, you're supposed to bring a costume to wear, they have a couple of different events celebrating Hallowe'en. So we're going to go with Lisa and Ben before we leave and get costumes for the two of you."

"We are? Cool!" I exclaimed, "Can we go trick-or-treating?"

Daddy wiped his mouth off with a napkin. "Umm, sure, I don't know where we can go around here, but I can ask Lisa. Did you go with your mom?"

"Yeah, we'd go through our apartment building and then up and down the block. When Mommy first got sick and I was staying with Aunt Janice, she took me around her neighborhood, but last year...last year Mommy was too sick, so I didn't- I didn't get to go."

It had been another disappointing thing to happen, but that was once again one of the times that Mommy had been getting over being really sick, and I hadn't wanted to bother her about a costume or buying candy to give. I had made a sign for the door that year saying, "NO CANDY HERE" like you were supposed to if you weren't passing candy out, and then spent the evening watching re-runs of 'College Town' while Mommy slept.

Grandpa John looked uncomfortable. "Is it such a good idea to be taking the kids out, Dean?" he asked. "I mean, you know what's out-"

"Dad, it'll be fine. Hey, why don't you come along with us? It'll be kinda fun to get into it this year and see all the kids in their costumes-"

Grandpa John shook his head. "No, no thank you," he said.

"Come on, Dad, it might do you some good to get out-" Uncle Sam said.

"NO," Grandpa John said in a hard voice, "and you know why." He abruptly got up from the table and walked towards the bathroom.

I looked across the table at Daddy. "What's wrong with Grandpa John?" I asked.

"Well," Daddy looked uncomfortable, "Our mother...passed...a couple of days after Hallowe'en, so this time of year is always hard for him."

"Oh," I said. "That's sad."

"Yeah, it is," Daddy sighed, "I was hoping that the fact that we're together this year, and the fact that he has a grand-daughter now, might help him be able to let it go a little bit, but I guess not."

In a few minutes, Grandpa John came back over to the table. "I'm sorry," he said stiffly after he sat down. "I didn't mean to- I get-" he sighed, "Well, you know why I get the way I do." He looked down at his plate.

Daddy put his hand on Grandpa John's shoulder. "We know, Dad, and it's okay." he said sympathetically.

Grandpa John nodded and finished eating his pizza. He didn't talk the rest of the time we were there, but seemed to be lost in thought.

When I went to bed that night, I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't know what to say, so instead I just hugged him extra tight.

In the morning Daddy told me that he and Uncle Sam were going to deal with the haunted house in the evening, and that Grandpa John would take me to dinner and put me to bed. Since it was Sunday, Uncle Sam didn't make me do any school work. Daddy and Uncle Sam spent time cleaning some guns on the kitchen table. I stayed away while they worked, since Daddy was always so strict about me being around weapons.

Right before dinner, Daddy and Uncle Sam packed up the Impala and left. Grandpa John and I walked to the park for a while. There were a lot of kids there. He sat on a bench under a big tree in the corner and I ran around with the other kids.

At one point I could feel something funny, like the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I turned, and saw a tall man with short dark hair standing on the edge of the playground. He was standing still, looking right at me. He looked normal, with a button down shirt and tie, except that he was wearing a long tan rain coat, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It had been hot and dry for days now. I stood there looking at him and he looked at me, and I realized that what was so odd was that he didn't blink! It gave me a funny feeling. I turned towards the bench where Grandpa John was sitting, to see if he was watching me and if he noticed the man. But when I turned back, the man was gone. I looked around to see it I could see him walking away, but it was as if he has just disappeared.

I was going to go over and tell Grandpa John about it, but then the group of kids that I was playing tag with all ran in front of me and I forgot about it, because I got tagged as 'it'.

Grandpa John took me to a diner for dinner. He told me that I could get ice cream for dessert, since he had promised me ice cream a couple of times and hadn't been able to take me out. I reminded him again that he'd also said it was a grandparent's job to fill their grand-kids up with candy, and he still hadn't done that, and that made him laugh. He let me get a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries and didn't make me get a vegetable. After we ate we shared a big banana split.

At bedtime, I asked him to read to me, so he read some of one of the Warrior Cats stories that Uncle Sam had put on my Kindle.

I woke up hearing Daddy talking kind of loudly. I stumbled out to the living room. He and Uncle Sam had just gotten back from the haunted house, and their duffles were next to the door.

I ran up to Daddy and hugged him. "Are you guys okay? Nobody got hurt? Is everything okay now?" I looked up at him.

Daddy looked at me and smoothed my hair back from my face. "Yeah, we're fine. Uncle Sam got body slammed at one point, but he can take it. We ganked it."

"What's ganked?" I asked.

"Uh, we...took care of things," Uncle Sam said quickly. He passed a bottle of beer to Daddy.

I looked at Uncle Sam. "Why do you guys have dirt all over your shirts?" I asked.

"It's, uh, part of the investigation process," Daddy said after a moment, "I want you to go back to bed now, Charlie," he said. I gave him and Uncle Sam a hug and a kiss and went back to bed. When I was almost asleep I heard Daddy come into the room and get in the shower. I woke up for a moment, later, and thought I heard the front door open and close, but I wasn't sure.

On Monday Uncle Sam took me to PT and I worked hard to get all my schoolwork done by the afternoon. This week Lisa had to work late because of her promotion. So Daddy was going to pick Ben up from school every day, and then Ben was going to come to the hotel and stay with us until Lisa got home late in the evening and picked him up. I was excited to spend more time with Ben.

Daddy and I drove to Washington Elementary School and parked in the parking lot. There was a line of cars at the curb in front of the school and a line of yellow school buses on the side of the building.

"Why do we have to go in?" I asked Daddy, taking his hand.

"I have to go in and show my ID the first time," he explained, "Tomorrow I can be in the pick-up line."

We walked into the front office and Daddy talked to the woman sitting behind the front desk. He took his driver's license out of his wallet and handed it it her.

A woman in a business suit came out of the back and looked at us. I tensed up a little bit, because suits like that still reminded me of Aunt Michelle, even though this woman looked nothing like her.

"And who do we have here?" she asked, looking at me, "Are you going to be a new student, sweetie?"

"Uh, no, we're here to pick up a student," Daddy said gruffly. I could tell he was uncomfortable.

"Well I don't recognize her, she's not one of ours, is she?" the woman said, looking at the secretary. She extended her hand to Daddy. "Margaret Collins, Vice Principal."

"Dean Winchester," Daddy said, shaking her hand, "I'm here to pick up Ben Braeden, he's my son. This is my daughter, she's uh, I'm home-schooling her right now."

The secretary gave Daddy back his license and handed him a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. "Fill this out, it tells us what kind of car you have so that we know what to look for, and gives us your contact info."

"Home-schooling, huh? What's the matter, she not like school?" the Vice Principal said.

"Uh, no, she was...she had an illness and was hospitalized for a while, and we thought it best to home-school afterwards," Daddy said stiffly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope she's in remission now!"

Daddy nodded and held up the clipboard. "I've got to fill this out," he said.

She nodded, "I'll leave you to it."

A door on the other wall opened and Ben walked in carrying his backpack and a small duffle bag. He smiled when he saw us. "Hey, Charlie, hey, Dean!" he said happily.

"Hey, Ben!" I hopped up, "This is gonna be fun!"

When we walked back to the car, Ben said, "Hey, Dean, can I sit up front?"

Daddy looked at him. "Don't think so, buddy, it's a law in this state that you have to be 13 to sit in the front, I think?"

Ben sighed and frowned, "I know, it's not fair..." he grumbled.

When we got back to the room, Daddy realized that we had less than an hour before we had to go to Ben's baseball practice. Dinner hadn't been started, so he took us to a fast-food restaurant near the park where Ben's practices were held. We couldn't go into the play area because we had to get to practice, and then we couldn't go to the playground after, because we had to go back to the hotel so that Ben could do his homework. And then before we knew it, Lisa was there picking up Ben. I felt like I had barely seen him.

The next day I worked hard with Uncle Sam on my school work so that I could spend time with Ben when we picked him up. We got to go through the car rider line at his school, and Ben enjoyed everyone looking at Daddy's car and pointing at it. It was a noticeable car, not only because it was shiny and fancy looking, but because the engine rumbled loudly.

When we got to our hotel, Ben went straight to the desk and sat down. "I gotta do my homework first thing," he told me, "and get it outta the way."

I picked up the tablet to move it out of the way and set it to the side. Then I walked over to the sofa and sat down.

In a couple of minutes Ben turned to me. "Hey, Charlie, can I use your tablet for the calculator?"

"Sure," I agreed. He turned it on and I saw him tapping the screen.

Uncle Sam called me into the kitchen and asked me to set the table, since he was cooking dinner for us tonight. He made spaghetti with meat sauce, with salad and green beans if you didn't want salad. Grandpa John wasn't there, so it wasn't crowded at the table.

"Do you want salad or green beans, or both?" Uncle Sam asked.

Ben made a face. "Green beans," he said, "When I was a dumb little kid I liked dinosaurs, and Mom got me to eat salad by telling me to pretend to be a leaf-eater, and I did!"

I giggled.

"That's actually pretty creative," Uncle Sam said.

"Yeah, and broccoli was trees," he shook his head, "I was a dork," he made another face, and I giggled again.

"When Sam was little I had him convinced that brown cows made chocolate milk and that cheese was made when cows got scared. I told him that there was a worker on each farm who went around scaring cows to get them to make cheese," Daddy told us, and Uncle Sam shook his head.

Ben and I laughed.

"And you wonder why I think you're full of it sometimes, jerk," Uncle Sam said to Daddy.

"Just doing my job as an obnoxious older brother, bi—Sam," Daddy corrected himself.

After we ate I took Ben into my room and showed him my bag with all my Hello Kitty figurines and Polly Pockets- Ben was fascinated with how small the Polly Pocket dolls were. I showed him my 3DS games and we talked about which games we liked, because he had a 3DS too. We made plans to play some games together, because you could connect them. Then we went out to the living room to watch t.v.

We were flipping through all the channels when I saw Uncle Sam walk over to Daddy, who was cleaning up the kitchen.

They talked in low voices for a couple of minutes, and then went into the bedroom. Uncle Sam closed the door partway and I could hear them talking some more.

The bedroom door opened and Uncle Sam stood there. "Charlie, come here please," he beckoned me.

I got up and walked into the bedroom, and he closed the door part way again. Daddy was standing by the dresser, and his arms were crossed. He was frowning and there was an angry line between his eyebrows.

Uncle Sam sat down on the end of the bed and picked up the tablet. I hadn't seen him bring it in with him. He tapped the screen a couple of times, and then turned it around to show me.

"What is this?" he asked me.

I looked at it- it was a space game with rocket ships that I'd never seen before. "I—I don't know, Uncle Sam, I've never seen tha-"

He looked up at me and his jaw twitched. "You're telling me that you didn't download this game onto the tablet?"

"N-no, Uncle Sam, I didn't!" I looked from him to Daddy, and my tummy started to twist into a knot. Daddy just stood there watching me.

"Charlotte Anne, what did I tell you would happen if you downloaded any more games without asking me first? And you're going to add lying now?" Uncle Sam set the tablet down on the bed, stood up, and crossed the room.

Daddy reached into his duffle on the dresser, and took something out, handing it to Uncle Sam.

It was the paddle!

My mouth went dry and I took a couple of steps backwards.

Uncle Sam walked over to the bed and sat down again, on the edge.

"Come here," he said in a hard voice, setting the paddle next to his thigh.

"Uncle Sam, I didn't- I swear, I don't know how that game got on there, I-" I gulped uneasily.

"Really, young lady? Really? Get over here, now," and he leaned forward and took my wrist, pulling me towards him.

I stumbled over my feet, tears coming to my eyes.

He held me so that I was right in front of his knees, and looked at me again. He was frowning just like Daddy now and his jaw was tight.

"I'm giving you one last chance to come clean before I add swats for lying to me," he said sternly.

"Please, Uncle Sam, I didn't- I mean I don't- I didn't put that game on there, I've never seen it b'fore, please believe me!" My words tumbled over each other in a rush as the tears in my eyes spilled over.

I looked over at Daddy again and then back at Uncle Sam."Please, please believe me!" I pleaded.

Uncle Sam pulled me closer. "Are you telling me the truth? You're not just saying that to get out of being paddled?" He looked me right in the eyes.

"B-ben had the tablet, maybe he—he put it on, he likes space games like that one! I don't like games like that!" I put my hand up and swiped at the tears on my face. "Please!"

Something in Uncle Sam's face softened, and I saw his jaw unclench. He let go of me and stood up.

"All right, let's go talk to Ben," he said. I followed him out to the living room and Daddy walked behind me, holding the tablet.

Daddy and Uncle Sam stood next to each other. "Ben, did you put anything on Charlie's tablet?" Daddy asked.

Ben got a scared look on his face for a moment, and then it smoothed out. "Uh, I, yeah, I did." he said casually, "It's this game that I play on the laptop all the time, it's cool-"

"Ben, that's not the point," Daddy said.

Just then his phone rang. He answered it, "Hey, Lis, how's it going?" he asked, "You are? All right. Ben can fall asleep on the sofa here. Hey, listen, we have a bit of a situation here- Charlie has her tablet for school work, and she's not allowed to have any games on there unless Sam has vetted them and okayed it, and Ben put a game on there without asking. I know you had said before that you had basically the same rule, he had to check with you first- oh, you did? What do you want to do?"

Daddy handed the phone to Ben. "Uh, h-hi Mom," Ben said, ducking his head guiltily, "Y-yeah, I did. But it's a game I played before, and we know it's safe! Oh...no, I, I didn't think of that. Yeah, I guess I didn't think...aw Mom! Mooooom!" Ben's face got red as he protested, "No, I don't want a span-" he glanced at me and his face got more red. He sighed. "Okaaaay, Mom. See ya later. Yeah."

He handed the phone back to Daddy. "It's me," Daddy said, "What did you—oh, all right, that sounds fair. Okay, we'll see you later."

He disconnected and looked at Ben. "Well, what do you have to say?"

"Uh, sorry for not checking what your rules were and for putting something on your tablet without permission. Sorry, Charlie," Ben glanced at me, "I can't play my 3DS for the rest of the week now," he said sourly.

"Your mom is going to be late tonight, so you can just fall asleep on the sofa here, all right?" Daddy said to him, "Charlie, you need to get ready for bed."

"Yes, Daddy," I said, feeling relieved that I wasn't in trouble.

When I was finished getting ready, I went up to Daddy and asked, "Would you read to me? Grandpa John started reading the Warrior Cats book."

"Sure," Daddy said, standing up. He had been sitting on the sofa next to Ben.

"Wanna come listen?" I asked Ben.

He looked a little uncomfortable. "Uh, my mom hasn't read to me in years, but, uh, sure," he said.

He followed us into the bedroom, and Daddy sat in the middle of the bed with me and Ben on either side of him. I explained the story to Ben first because he'd never heard of it before. After Daddy read a chapter, he went to the closet and got out an extra blanket and one of his pillows.

"You can use these to lay down," he told Ben as they went out to the living room. I could hear them talking as they watched t.v., and felt a little bit jealous that Ben was getting to stay up and talk to Daddy, but then, he was older than me.

Imani came up to me when Uncle Sam and I walked into the PT room the next day.

"Well, Charlie," she smiled, "Dr. Miriam said that based on all the tests she did recently, you're ready to graduate from PT! You don't need to keep coming!"

"Wow, really?" I asked.

"Yes! You've done really well. Your father told me that you won't be here on Friday, so when you come back on Monday, that will be your last session and we'll have a little celebration, all right?" She smiled up at Uncle Sam.

While I did the exercises with the other kids, I glanced over a couple of times. Uncle Sam stayed, and he was watching Imani as she walked around helping the kids. At one point she walked over to the counter to write on some clipboards, and he went over and talked to her. They chatted and smiled at each other.

When Uncle Sam and I left, he said, "This is great news, Charlie!" He had a big smile on his face.

I remembered what Daddy had said to him about Imani when I was in the hospital. "Hey, are you gonna ask her out now?" I looked up at him.

He blushed. "Geez, Charlie, I don't know, I don't even know if she's still interested."

"Oh come on, Uncle Sam, she is!" I told him.

He shook his head.

"You guys were looking at each other like two people from Doctor Sexy, MD, when they're about to get all lovey-dovey!" I said, and he laughed loudly.

"We'll see, Charlie, we'll see," he shook his head again.

I fell asleep on the way home from PT and slept for a long time, longer than usual. I hadn't been sleeping well, I kept waking up from bad dreams, but then I could never remember them, just feelings of being nervous and scared. I had been feeling a little more tired than usual because of it. Because I had slept for so long, I had to stay and do my school work with Uncle Sam instead of going with Daddy to pick Ben up from school.

They came into the room later than usual, and Ben had a Slushie from the Gas-n-Sip that was near us.

"Hey, no fair!" I protested.

"I wanted to have a little Dad- son bonding time," Daddy said, bringing me over a cup. "I got you a Slushie too," He handed it to me- it was bright blue.

"It's raspberry flavored, and it'll turn your tongue blue!" Ben told me, and he stuck out his tongue- it was blue! I laughed.

"Great, just what the kids need before dinner, sugar and dye," Uncle Sam said sarcastically.

"I'll take them to the playground after dinner and let them run it off," Daddy told him.

As we walked back from the playground later, Ben said, "When we get back I wanna watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

"Nooo, they're dumb!" I protested.

Ben bristled. "They are not!"

"Yuh- huh!" I said, "Kitchen Wars is on tonight, and I watch that with Uncle Sam!"

Ben stepped close to me and tried to step on the heel of my shoe. "But I'm the guest, and you have to watch what the guest wants!"

"Stooooop!" I said, moving my foot away from him and stumbling over my feet.

Daddy grabbed my arm so that I didn't fall. "Hey...guys..." he said.

"Not if it's Teenage Mutant dum-dums!" I snapped, nudging Ben away again with my shoulder.

"Hey! They are not! Cut it out!" Ben nudged me back.

"You cut it out!" I said, and we both shoved each other at the same time.

"All right, enough!" Daddy said, pulling us apart. He took my arm and swatted my bottom, and then turned to Ben and swatted his butt too.

"Ow!" Ben hissed, reaching back to rub.

I glared at Ben. "It's all your fault!" I snapped, rubbing my stinging butt.

Daddy looked at me. "No, it's both your faults, and if you two keep it up, you're going to both have trouble sitting comfortably for the rest of the night! You got it?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said.

Daddy looked at Ben. "Ben?"

Ben glanced at him and nodded.

"I want a verbal response, buddy," Daddy said.

"Yeah, okay," Ben said grudgingly.

"Charlie, you walk on this side of me, Ben on the other. And keep your hands to yourselves." Daddy said.

When we got back to the room, Grandpa John was sitting on the sofa with his feet on the coffee table, watching a baseball game. "Well, there they are," he said. "How was it...what's wrong, Dean?"

"Dad, I just want to say...I'm sorry for all the times that Sam and I bickered and drove you crazy," Daddy said to him.

Grandpa John looked at me and Ben, and then he laughed. "What, you mean these two...?"

Daddy nodded.

Grandpa John laughed louder. "Go get yourself a beer, Dean, it's going to continue for at least the next couple of years."

I woke up in the middle of the night again, feeling scared and uneasy. I got off of the bed and walked over to Daddy's bed, wanting to cuddle up with him. His bed was empty!

The bathroom door was open, and there was no-one in the living room when I walked in. The door to Uncle Sam's bedroom was open. I hurried over to his bed, feeling tears starting.

I shook his shoulder. "Uncle Sam, wake up, Uncle Saaaam," I whimpered.

He rolled over and propped himself up on his elbow, squinting at me.

"What is it, Charlie?" he asked in a rough voice, "What time is it?"

"I—I dunno, it's the middle of the night, an' I woke up all scared from a bad dream, an' Daddy's not here, where is he, Uncle Sam?" I burst into tears.

"Shh...it's all right, he, uh, he went out," he told me.

"But where did he go? Why isn't he back yet?" I asked.

"Uh, I don't, I don't know, he should be back soon," he said, pulling the covers back, "Get in bed, and tell me about this dream you had, hmm?"

I climbed into bed next to him and curled up. "I—I can't remember," I sniffled, "Just, darkness and feeling scared an', an' weird in my chest, I keep having them."

He put his arm around me and pulled me close. "Well, it was just a dream, and you're safe now. Go back to sleep."

I woke up early. Daddy still wasn't back. I looked out the window- the Impala wasn't in the parking lot, and I burst into tears. Uncle Sam called Daddy's cell phone, and then made another call. He and Grandpa John sat on the sofa with me, and they both looked mad.

Finally we heard the Impala's engine outside, and keys in the door. Daddy came into the room- his hair was messy, and his shirt wasn't buttoned right.

He looked over at us. "Uh, sorry-" he said sheepishly.

"Where were you? I woke up last night from a bad dream and I was scared and you weren't there! It made me more scared!" I burst into tears again, and Uncle Sam pulled me to him.

"Yeah, Dean, where were you?" he asked tightly, "Explain that to us. Explain that to your daughter."


	51. Chapter 51

Daddy looked at all of us with an uneasy look on his face. "Well, Charlie, I was, uh, I was out-"

Grandpa John stood up abruptly and walked around the coffee table to stand in front of Daddy, pointing at him. "Dean, this is irresponsible of you, you can't do this type of thing anymore, you're not in high school-"

Daddy interrupted Grandpa John, putting his hands on his hips. "This coming from the man who would leave his sons alone for days on end while he was out hunting fuglies? I don't need to hear it from you-"

"There's a difference!" Grandpa John barked loudly. His face was angry and his brown eyes were dark and intense.

Daddy scoffed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Dammit, Dean! I know that you think I was a shitty father and yeah, I made mistakes and did some things I'm not proud of, but when I was out, I was out hunting and making the world a safer place, not chasing tail or hustling pool! I was doing what I did to help others, not just for my own selfish needs!" Grandpa John was full-on shouting by now.

I cringed into Uncle Sam's side and felt his hand tighten on my shoulder.

Daddy's face got red and angry-looking and he stepped up to Grandpa John, their chests puffing out and their chins up. Daddy squared his shoulders and I noticed that his fists were clenched.

Uncle Sam got up quickly and got between them, facing Grandpa John. "All right, everyone take a step back and cool down for a minute. Dad, why don't you step outside and get a breath of fresh air-"

"You need to grow the hell up and start thinking of people other than yourself," Grandpa John snapped as he left the room, "That little girl on the sofa needs you to be responsible!" and he slammed the door.

I started to cry harder.

"Goddamn sonofa-"

"Dean, he's right," Uncle Sam said in a hard voice, "I really don't know where your head is lately, you're all over the map, and you need to get it together. You've got not one, but two kids depending on you, and now is not the time to be playing 'stay out all night and stumble in late the next morn-"

"Jesus, you too?" Daddy snapped, "What the hell, I would've at least thought you'd take my side-"

"There shouldn't even be sides, because you should be behaving differently than you are! You should be acting more like a father and less like a teen-ager who's-"

"Well I didn't exactly have the best role model, now did I?" Daddy said.

"Man, when are you going to stop pinning the blame on him? I never thought I'd say this, because I'm the one who constantly butted heads with the man when we were younger, but dude, take some responsibility for your own life! Yeah he screwed up plenty and he screwed us up, but we're adults now and we've got to step up and start dealing with our lives. And with you, it's not just your life, it's the life of your kids." Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips.

"Well I don't think the man should get a free pass for the shit he pulled-"

"No one's saying that, Dean! But the focus here is on you, not what a crappy father you think he was!"

"Oh, are you saying I'm a crappy father now?" Daddy was defensive again, getting all red-faced and puffed up again.

"No!" I exclaimed, "You're not-" I didn't know if I'd get in trouble for saying 'crappy' or not, so I didn't. "Daddy it's my fault, I'm sorry-" I sobbed.

Daddy and Uncle Sam both turned and looked at me, and it was as if they had forgotten I was there. Daddy's shoulders slumped, and Uncle Sam came back over to the sofa and put his arms around me again.

Daddy walked around to the other side and sat down next to me. "No, sweetheart, I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

"Where- where were you?" I asked, turning my head to look at Daddy.

He looked uncomfortable. "I was, uh, I was out with a, uh, friend, and we, uh, spent some time together. And I, uh, fell asleep accidentally."

"You fell asleep accidentally?" I asked, "How'd you do that?"

"Uh, sometimes- sometimes when you're an adult, it happens," Daddy looked sheepish again. He took my arm and turned my body towards him, "Baby, I'm sorry I stayed out and I'm sorry it scared you. I won't ever do that again, all right? I promise. You- you're the most important thing in the world to me, and I need to show you that."

I nodded, and he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "I'm so sorry," he murmured again, pulling me into a hug. I climbed onto his lap and put my arms around him.

"I woke up 'cause I had a bad dream and you-you weren't there, and it—it made me feel more scared!" I told him, getting tears in my eyes again.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated, "What was this bad dream about?"

"I, uh, can't remember," I said, "Just, darkness and feeling scared."

He stroked my hair back from my face. "Well, you're safe now, and I'll be here at night from now on if you have any more nightmares, okay?"

I nodded.

Uncle Sam looked at Daddy. "We'd better go talk to Dad," he said.

Daddy sighed. "Yeah, all right."

He set me on the sofa and they both stood up and walked outside the room. I heard muffled voices, and every once in a while one of them would get loud.

It sounded like Grandpa John said, "I don't need this shit right now!" and then Daddy was talking in a low voice. Then Daddy said loudly, "I don't know, maybe I am, but it was one last time before I settle down for good!"

In a few more minutes they came into the room. "Let me get changed and we can go," Daddy said. He looked at me. "Get dressed, we're going to go out for breakfast this morning."

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed. I followed him into the bedroom. He got some clothes and took them into the bathroom and I got clean clothes out of my duffle and changed out of my pajamas.

After we ate at a diner, Grandpa John said he wanted to stop by the library.

"Can I get some more books?" I asked Daddy as we walked in.

"No, you need to finish and return the books you have," he told me.

The library had different themes every month, and right when you walked in, there was a huge, long glassed- in display case that had stuff in it that was related to the theme. When school had started the theme had been "Back to School" and there had been photographs of old-time school rooms and old-fashioned items like antique school books and school supplies.

I noticed that the display window was open when we walked in, and there was stuff on a table next to it. I went with Daddy to the kid's section, and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam went to different parts of the library. Daddy told me to stay in the kid's section while he went to the restroom.

But I couldn't help it- I walked out to the lobby where the display case was, I felt—drawn-to it somehow.

As I walked over, I could see there was a sign inside the display case that said, "A Fateful Garden Party".

A woman was pinning fake vines around the sign and there were vases of fake flowers in the case.

There was another woman who was standing in front of a long table that had an old-looking wooden box on it. She was wearing a white smock and tight white gloves on her hands. She was removing smaller boxes from the wooden box and putting them on a table. There were a couple of small leather-bound books and a small pair of wire glasses with oval lenses on the table, and then as I watched she opened a flat box and removed a small pair of yellowish-white cloth gloves. She placed them on the table, and then a librarian came over to the women.

"You've got a phone call, Mrs. Thompkins," she turned and walked back to the desks.

"All right," the woman in the smock removed her gloves and put them in her pocket.

"I'll show you where you can talk privately," the other woman said, putting a vine down in the case, and they walked away.

I stood there for a moment, thinking about how I'd wanted to touch something old and maybe find out information about a ghost, but Daddy and Uncle Sam had told me not to. I found my feet moving forward without even thinking about it, and then I was right there looking down at everything.

There was a faint musty smell coming out of the box. I felt pulled by the things on the table-

"Little girl!" I heard a woman call angrily.

Suddenly I opened my eyes and looked down- and was shocked, one of the gloves was on my hand! My head felt like it was full of clouds, all moving around.

"What are you doing!" the woman in the smock hurried up to me, frowning.

"I, uh, I, sorry," I babbled, shaking my head to try and clear it.

"These things are priceless antiques, not toys! They are not to be handled by just anyone- you need to wear special gloves and treat them with caution!" she snapped.

I pulled off the glove and set it on the table.

"Where are your parents?" she demanded, "Let's call them to the front desk."

As we walked towards the front desk, Daddy came out of the Children's section, Uncle Sam came out from the New Books section, and Grandpa John came over from the Reference Room. They all looked worried, but then as they noticed me, I saw relief on their faces that quickly changed to anger. They all walked up to us at the same time.

"Charlotte Anne, why did you leave the kid's section?" Daddy's voice was that deeper tone that meant he was angry.

"Are you supposed to go wandering off by yourself?" Uncle Sam asked, and his voice was deep too. Uh-oh.

"Which one of you is her father?" the woman asked tightly, looking from Daddy to Uncle Sam.

"I am, what's going on?" Daddy asked.

"I'm one of the historians over at the Bloomesbury House and I just caught your daughter trying on one of the antique gloves that I'm getting ready to put on display."

Daddy glared down at me and a muscle in his jaw twitched. "Charlotte Anne Winchester, you'd better apologize-"

"I did, Daddy!" I blurted. I looked up at the woman. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry!" I said, and started to cry.

Daddy stepped forward and took my hand. "I'm very sorry, ma'am. I'll be having a long talk with her about touching things that don't belong to her," Daddy gave me a look and I gulped.

We walked out to the car, Daddy holding my hand tightly. My ears were ringing and my head was starting to feel like it was spinning a little bit.

We stopped by the side of the car. Daddy turned to me. "What were you doing?" he demanded, "Were you trying to read an object?"

I looked up at all of them. They were all still frowning. "Wh-what?"

"Were you trying to get information from an object to find out about a ghost? Like you said you wanted to do? Like I told you NOT to do?" Daddy's face got even angrier.

"Yes, but-" I felt dizzy now, and like there was something turning around and around in my head-

"I can't believe you, Charlie, I cannot believe you," Daddy said tightly. He opened the back door of the car. "What is it going to take, to get it through your head-"

"Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked with concern, "Are you okay? Sit down-"

I sank down on the edge of the seat, and the heat coming out of the car made me feel even worse.

All of a sudden I knew—I was seeing in my head—it was a bunch of images and feelings pouring into my head like water from a pitcher-and it was attached to the glove I had put on- "I'm looking down and there's a cat on my lap, with thick stripes in his fur. He's called Mack because he was a mackerel tabby," I said, looking up at Uncle Sam, "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," said Uncle Sam, shaking his head.

I could see pictures in my head, and it was like I was the person it was happening to- "A lady who's there, she has a thick braid wrapped around her head and little glasses on her face, she says let me see the ring, and I look down and take the gloves off. It was s'posed to be a 'gagment ring but it wasn't white like they are now, it was a little ring with a bright green stone in it and it was square, and I hold my hand up to show the ring an' the lady looks at me and says, he found one with your birthstone, how lovely!"

I looked at Uncle Sam, and then at Daddy and Grandpa John, and started to talk faster as more information spilled into my brain and out of my mouth. "The lady's name started with a E. El- Ellie? I-I dunno,"

All of a sudden the point of view switched and it was like I was looking at the scene, the woman with the gloves was sitting at a table and a woman was standing in front of her- "And she had a dress on with lots of sewing on it, what's it called, broidery? Lots of flowers broidered all over. Just like in the garden, there were big bushes of flowers all over and the air smelled all sweet and flowery all the time, and you could hear bees buzzing-her-her name was Delly, that's what they called her, it was two sisters, Elsie and Delly, an', an' they wrote together-"

I felt overcome with dizziness, and there was pressure in my head all of a sudden, and then I felt like I was sliding down into darkness, something moving over my head, and everything was turning gray, and then it was going black-

"Charlie?" I heard Daddy saying, "Charlie!"

I could feel that the car was in motion and hear Baby's engine. Someone was stroking my hair slowly, over and over- I opened my eyes. I was laying down in the back seat of the car, with my head in Daddy's lap. I shifted, trying to sit up, and he looked down at me, and his face filled with relief.

"She's awake," he said, then he said to me, "Charlie? How are you feeling, baby?"

"M' okay," I mumbled.

Uncle Sam was in the front passenger seat, and he had turned back to us.

"Ah-ah, Charlie, lay back," he said.

He passed a bottle of water back to Daddy. "See if you can get her to drink a little, Dean."

Daddy propped me up slightly and held the bottle up to my lips. I swallowed once, twice, then said, "That's all I want right now."

Daddy handed the bottle back to Uncle Sam.

"We're almost home," Grandpa John said over his shoulder. He was driving. "I'll call Missouri as soon as we get in."

I looked up at Daddy and my eyes filled with tears. "Daddy I know you said not to touch anything like that, I couldn't help it, I tried not to but I—I- it was like the things wanted me to touch them! I—I didn't even know, I—I was looking at them and then the next minute I was there with the glove on my hand, and I don't even 'member putting it on-"

"Shh, don't worry about it-" Daddy said.

"M' s-sorry, m' I in trouble?" I exclaimed, and I started to cry.

Daddy looked uncomfortable. "I know what I said before—no, sweetheart, you're not in trouble. I just want—I want to make sure you're okay."

We got back to the room and Daddy told me to sit down. Uncle Sam brought me a glass of ice water and told me to drink it all. Then they all went into their bedrooms to make phone calls. I sat quietly on the sofa and tried to drink the water.

Grandpa John walked into the room, saying, "-seemed almost like she was channeling, but she wasn't. All right, I'll ask," he sat down next to me, "Charlie, I need to know- what happened with the glove- you said you don't remembered picking it up?"

"No, I walked over, but it was like I was walking there on on my own without trying to and- I wanted to touch- everything, but I don't remember picking anything up."

"Did you hear that?" he said into the phone, "Did you see anything right away, or did that come later?" he asked me.

"I—I didn't see anything at first, just- felt like there was stuff in my head, clouds, and, and then I felt dizzy and then when I started talking it was like it just took over, it was like it was all pouring out-"

Grandpa John listened for a minute. "Yeah," he said, "I agree. All right, let me check with Dean-" he got up again and walked into our bedroom, where Daddy was on the phone. I heard them talking quietly for a few minutes.

"-yes, thank you very much." Uncle Sam was saying into his phone as he came into the room from his bedroom. He disconnected and looked at me.

"How are you feeling, Charlie?" he asked.

"Uh, okay I guess," I shrugged.

Daddy and Grandpa John came in from the bedroom.

"Well, I checked with the library," Uncle Sam looked at all of us as he spoke. "The display that they're putting up is to celebrate this author who had passed away this month in the early 1800s, she was a contemporary of Louisa May Alcott. She wrote that short series that was similar to 'Little Women', about the girl who was taken in by her aunt's family?"

"I don't know," Daddy shrugged.

"Anyhow, get this, the woman had announced her engagement at a garden party, and then during the party she drowned, and it's kind of a mystery, no one knows if it was accidental or murder. The author's name was Adelia Young, and she was called Delly by her family."

They all turned to look at me and I felt like there was roaring in my ears.

"There's also apparently a school of thought that says that her sister, Elsie, actually helped her write the books," Uncle Sam said.

"E-Elsie and Delly," I said uneasily.

Daddy came over to me. "Sweetheart, are you all right?" he asked, sitting down next to me.

"That- that means the things I was seeing- they're true, they're real!" My eyes filled with tears and I felt scared. "I didn't- I didn't really want to be able to do that, I didn't try, and I don't-"

"What? What's wrong?" Daddy put his hand on my back.

I curled up in a ball and wrapped my arms around my legs. "I don't want to be able to do that with things!" I wailed, bursting into tears, "I won't be able to touch anything or anyone, ever!" I buried my head in my knees.

"That's not true, Charlie," I felt Daddy's arms around me.

"Listen, darlin', we're going to go visit Missouri as soon as you get back from the waterpark," Grandpa John told me, "And you can talk to her about all of this, and she'll help you, all right?"

I raised my head and looked up at him. "Okay," I said.

Daddy let me go. "I talked to PT, and we changed plans. Tomorrow will be your last day of PT, so they're going to have a little celebration, and then we'll leave straight from there. And then when we get back we'll go to Missouri's."

"Where does she live?" I sniffled.

"She lives in Kansas, it's about 8 or 10 hours away, depending," Grandpa John said. "Not too far."

"Okay," I agreed.

"So we need to do laundry and pack today so we can be ready tomorrow," Daddy told me.

"Do you feel up to doing any school work today?" Uncle Sam asked, "It might help keep your mind off of things."

"Yeah," I said, "Just no math!"

They all chuckled when I said that.

"All right, I'll start lunch," Uncle Sam said.

I went into the bedroom to help Daddy sort clothes so he could do some laundry. Then I sat down on the bed to pack some toys to bring with me. I wanted to bring all my 3DS games so that Ben and I could play together.

I woke up slightly when I heard Uncle Sam's voice- "Charlie, do you want—oh, she's asleep-"

"Let her sleep," I heard Grandpa John say, "Missouri said that Charlie may be physically and emotionally drained after this morning."

I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep, and I wanted to sit up and say I was going to come and eat lunch, but I was too tired, and I felt myself drifting back to sleep...

I slept for a long time and did some school work with Uncle Sam when I woke up. Daddy went to pick Ben up by himself, and brought him back to the room even though it was Thursday and he had baseball practice. We still had to finish packing and Daddy wanted to give Baby a tune-up.

"Can I help?" Ben asked Daddy from the desk.

"Can we both help?" I asked.

"No, I'm going to be changing the oil, and that's messy, you two can help me next time, all right?" Daddy said. He went outside.

Ben turned to his math book and bent his head. In a few minutes, he crumpled his paper in frustration.

"What's wrong, Ben?" I asked.

"I just—I can't get this stuff with fractions, I don't get it!" he grumbled.

Uncle Sam was at the stove working on dinner, and he walked over. "Let me see, maybe I can help," he said. He picked up Ben's math book. After he read over the page, he set the book down.

"Show me what you're doing," he said.

"Well, I can't get this- see, I always end up with the wrong answer," Ben wrote something down and then looked up at Uncle Sam.

I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, Ben was saying, "That makes sense, thanks, Sam!" Ben smiled at him.

"No problem," Uncle Sam ruffled Ben's hair and walked over to me. "You want to help me with dinner?"

"Okay," I agreed. He had me peel some carrots and cucumbers.

While we were all eating dinner, there was a knock on the door. Daddy walked over to it and looked through the peep-hole.

"It's Lisa," he said, opening the door.

"Hey, I left work early today so I could come home and pack," she said as she came in. I saw her hand a small bundle to Daddy and it sounded like she said, "You left your socks."

Daddy slipped the bundle in his pocket and smiled at her. They walked over to the table.

"You want some dinner?" Uncle Sam asked, "It's just meatloaf and mashed potatoes, but it's filling."

"I'd love some," she said, and Daddy motioned to his seat and picked up his sat down where Daddy had been sitting, and Daddy leaned against the counter. Uncle Sam got up and brought a plate over and handed it to her, and she put some food on it and started to eat.

I looked around at everyone and realized that we were almost like a "real" family, we had a mom and a dad and kids and an uncle and grandfather all together. It made me feel good. And then I thought of my mommy. And I felt guilty. If I loved everyone here and felt like we were a "real" family then did that mean that my mommy and I weren't? She had tried her best even though it was just the two of us- we had been best friends, and then she had gotten sick. And it was like I didn't have a parent after that because I had to take care of her. Was that a bad thing? I felt my eyes filling with tears and lowered my head so that no one would notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm putting this at the end of that chapter because I didn't want to "spoil" what happened with Charlie 'reading' the glove. Louisa May Alcott is a real author, but the author and the story that Sam talks about are fictional. The names Elsie and Adelia are actually names of ancestors of mine!


	52. Chapter 52

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Big Bear Cabins" is based on a real-life water-park/resort called Great Wolf Lodge, of which there are several in the US and Canada. If you want to see what one looks like to help you imagine the story better, you can look them up online.  
> *****************

I heard Daddy say, "What's wrong, Charlie?"

I wiped my eyes and sniffled. I didn't know how to say what I had been thinking. "I- I dunno," I shrugged, "I just- everyone is here-" I gestured around the table.

Daddy came over and hugged me. "It's all right, sweetheart," he said.

After a moment, Lisa asked, "Did you get all your homework done, Ben?"

"Almost," he said, "Sam helped me with math!"

"Oh, that's great!" Lisa smiled at Uncle Sam, "He's had a lot of trouble with it, and I can't help him because fractions and algebra weren't my strong suit. I was considering getting him a tutor."

"Well, if I can help him, I'm happy to," Uncle Sam smiled at Lisa and then Ben.

"All right, finish up, Ben, we've go to get home and pack," Lisa said.

"I'm done," Ben scooped some mashed potatoes into his mouth and pushed his plate away.

After they left, Daddy started to put the plates in the dishwasher.

"Charlie, I'd like to ask you about what you saw this afternoon," Grandpa John said.

Uncle Sam got up and left the room, and came back with a pad of paper and a pen and his laptop.

Grandpa John wrote down everything I told him, asking questions. When I was done telling him everything I could remember, Uncle Sam turned his lap top around. There was an old black-and-white photo on the screen. There was a woman sitting at a table, in a chair, with a tabby cat in her lap, and next to her stood a woman wearing small oval glasses with a braid wrapped around her head.

"That—that's them," I breathed.

Uncle Sam pointed to the bottom of the screen. It said, "Elsie (standing) and Adelia Young with their pet cat, Mack. He was called that because of his thick stripes- his coat is called a mackerel tabby."

"There's the cat you talked about," Grandpa John said.

"And Elsie has the braid and the glasses," Uncle Sam said. He scrolled down and there was a photo of an old-fashioned looking ring with a square-shaped green stone. It was the one I had seen.

"That's Adelia's engagement ring," Uncle Sam told me, "Diamonds weren't popular at the time, so the man would give a stone that had some sort of significance. Her birthstone was an emerald."

"Just like I saw, just like the lady said," I gulped. I felt dizzy again. "I—I don't-" I looked at all of them. "I don't want to know this stuff, I don't want to be able to do any of this! I—I'm just a freak!" I got off of my chair and ran into the bedroom, throwing myself down on the bed and bursting into tears.

I felt someone sit down on the bed next to me, and put their hand on my back. I turned my head. It was Grandpa John.

"You're not a freak, Charlie." he said quietly, "I don't know why this is happening now, or why your—abilities-seem to be getting stronger now. I've known Missouri for a long time, and I feel confident that she's going to be able to help you."

I turned over and sat up, and he handed me a tissue.

"Sh-she will?" I asked.

Grandpa John pulled me into his lap and put his arm around me.

"Yes, I think so. She actually helps people, they come to her for readings about their lives and she can see into their past and future and help them out."

"She helps other people too?"

"Yes, and she was the only one who...believed me about the way that my wife...passed."

Daddy and Uncle Sam came into the room and stood by the bed.

"Did she help you with that?" I looked up at Grandpa John.

"Well...she tried, but- she wasn't able to. She did help me find some answers, and some peace. And no one considers her a freak. You're not a freak, you're just different."

"But this—what I can do—it's not normal!" my eyes filled with tears.

Daddy sat down next to us and picked me up from Grandpa John's lap, putting me in his lap. "You're not a freak, Charlie. This—ability-you have, you'll learn how to live with it, and we'll—help you manage it, all right?"

I looked up at him. "But it's not normal!"

Daddy chuckled. "We fight supernatural monsters, we're not normal either. So we've all got to stick together, right?"

"Normal is just a setting on the dryer," Uncle Sam said, and they all laughed at that.

"I know this is rough," Daddy said after a moment, "Just remember that we're here with you, to help you, and you're not alone in this. Talk to one of us if you need to, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed.

"Let's get you ready for bed now, we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

I got off of his lap and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. When I came out, he helped me take off my clothes and put on my nightgown. All three of them hugged me and kissed me goodnight, and then Daddy tucked me in with MaryBear and my Hello Kitty. I was still feeling tired, and I fell asleep quickly.

"Here you go, Charlie, and congratulations!" Imani handed me a piece of paper. It was an official looking certificate that said, "This certifies that Charlie Winchester has completed her course of Physical Therapy at the St. Raphael Teaching Hospital Physical Therapy Unit."

Everyone standing around clapped.

"Now can we have the cupcakes?" one of the other kids asked, and the adults laughed.

It was my last PT session- Dr. Miriam said I still had to come back for blood tests and other tests for a few more weeks, but I was healthy enough that I didn't need any more PT.

Imani and one of the other nurses started to hand out cupcakes to people.

Daddy hugged me and said, "I'm so proud of you, Charlie."

"You've done a lot of hard work," Uncle Sam said, "Gee, now that you have your mornings open, what are we going to do to fill the time? I know, more school work!"

I looked at him and he grinned at me- he was teasing me!

Grandpa John came over and hugged me too. "I'm so glad you've made it to this point, you've come very far." his voice was gruff.

"Great job, Charlie," Lisa said with a smile. She and Ben had come too, and we were going to leave right after PT for the waterpark.

"Can I have another cupcake?" Ben asked, shoving the last bite into his mouth.

"No, I think one is enough for now," Lisa told him, "We're going to be riding in the car for a while and the last thing we need is you hopped up on too much sugar."

"Aww Mom!" Ben protested.

We said good-bye to Grandpa John and Uncle Sam in the parking lot. Daddy and I had picked up Lisa and Ben, and Uncle Sam had ridden in Grandpa John's truck.

"Bye, Charlie, have fun," Uncle Sam picked me up and hugged me, "Don't forget to take breaks if you need it."

"I won't," I hugged him back, and he set me down and dropped a kiss on my head.

Grandpa John hugged me next. "You two behave yourselves," he said to me and Ben.

"We will," I told him, and he kissed my cheek and let me go, and then ruffled Ben's hair.

"I've been there before so I'm gonna show Charlie around," Ben said.

We got into the car and drove to the store to buy snacks for the trip and our costumes.

"I wanna be Batman!" Ben said excitedly.

A lady wearing a vest with the store logo on it turned and pointed. "The children's costumes are in aisles 20 through 26. It starts with babies and toddlers and each aisle after that is by age. Accessories are in the last aisle."

She smiled at me, "Little girl, with your blonde hair, you'd make a perfect Cinderella!"

I wrinkled my nose. "No thank you, yuck! Cinderella's annoying! I wanna be Wolverine!"

The woman looked confused. "But Wolverine is in the boy's section."

"So?" I said, "Girls can be superheroes too ya know!"

The woman started to look offended, so Lisa said, "Thank you," and we walked away.

Lisa started to laugh. "I guess you schooled her, Charlie," she shook her head, "I'm glad you're not afraid to say what you want."

"Charlie has always known her own mind," Daddy said, putting his hand on my shoulder and smiling at me.

It took us a while to find a costume that fit me. I was smaller and shorter than Ben, so I ended up having to get a costume that was made for a 6 year old. The ones in the aisles for 8 to 10 year olds were too big for me.

By the time we got back to the car, I was tired and yawning. Daddy unlocked the car and then went back to the trunk. He brought a pillow and blanket into the car and handed them to me.

"Try and rest, Charlie," he said, "You always nap after PT and you also just walked around a store."

"I'm okay, I'm not a baby," I grumped, "I wanna play my 3Ds with Ben, we're going to play Animal Playground together."

"The game will still be here when you wake up," Daddy told me, "Rest for a while."

"Okaaay," I sighed.

Daddy gave me a look, so I said, "Yes, Daddy."

"That's better," he said, and he started the car.

I woke up when the car had stopped. Daddy had pulled into a parking space so that we could eat lunch. The four of us went into the restaurant and got a booth. I sat across from Ben and Daddy sat across from Lisa.

Ben pulled his 3Ds out of his pocket. "Hey, do you want to start the game?" he asked me.

I had my purse with me, so I took out my 3DS and set it on the table. "Yeah, let's see if we can connect!" There were games where you could connect the 3Ds devices and play together, but you had to be sitting close enough that they could "see" each other.

"Ben, what's the rule?" Lisa asked.

Ben looked over at her and sighed. "But Mooooom-"

"No technology at the table, come on," she said.

"Can't we just set the characters up?" Ben asked with annoyance.

"No, you need to be looking at the menu and deciding what to get for lunch." Lisa said.

"I like that rule," Daddy said, "Put the game away, Charlie."

"Yes, Daddy," I said, and put my 3Ds back in my purse.

"That's a different purse than the one you had before," Lisa commented.

"Yeah, the one I had before got, uh, I got-" I didn't want to bring up when I had been kidnapped.

"The strap got broken when she had the... run-in... with the realtor," Daddy said smoothly, "So I got her a new one."

"Oh," Lisa nodded, "It's cute. Ben, put it away, young man!"

"Okayokay!" Ben scowled and turned off the game, huffing with frustration.

Lisa picked it up and put it in her purse.

"Hey!" Ben protested.

She looked at him. "Keep it up with the mouth and you won't get it back," she said, "Open your menu and figure out what you want."

Ben muttered under his breath and opened the menu, slapping it down on the table.

"Oh, no, young man, you are not going to start!" she said sternly, "Do I need to take you out to the car for an attitude adjustment?"

Ben blushed. "No, Mom!" he protested again.

"This is your last warning," she told him, "Let's have a good weekend, okay?"

I woke up again when the car stopped. I had fallen asleep after we had eaten and gotten back on the road. We were here! We got out and carried our bags into the hotel, and had to stand in line to check in.

"How many people do we have here?" the hotel worker asked, "Mom, Dad, brother and sister?"

"Yes," Lisa glanced at Daddy.

"We've got the costume walk tonight from 4 pm to 7 pm, and then at 8 o'clock we'll be showing "The Nightmare Before Christmas" down here with popcorn and candy. Tomorrow night there will be a costume ball for the kids at 7 pm and then story time at 8 pm. Here you go," she handed four headbands across the counter.

"What's that?" I asked.

Lisa picked one up. "Because this is Big Bear Cabins, everything is bear-themed, and they always give out these headbands with bear ears." She slid the headband on- it was orange, for Halloween, and furry.

"Do I have to wear one?" Daddy asked skeptically.

I laughed. "Yes, Daddy, you have to! Please?"

He sighed and shook his head. "All right," he agreed. He put a headband on, and we all laughed. He handed one to me and one to Ben and we put our on too.

"Your room is ready now, so you can take your luggage up now," the worker handed two keys over and a bunch of wristbands. We walked over to a set of benches and Lisa showed me how to put mine on.

"This has to stay on all weekend," she said, "It has a door sensor, and a chip so that you can use it to buy things and it will go onto your account. That does not mean you can buy whatever you want, Benjamin," she gave Ben a look.

Ben blushed a little. "Okaaay, Mom."

"Let's go over the rules," Daddy said, "When we're in the waterpark I want you to stay there, no leaving. You always let one of us know where you're going, and you don't leave the room by yourselves either, unless we've okayed it."

"And like I said you can't just buy anything. If you get hungry, you come and tell us, and we'll get something. You don't just go and buy tons of junk food," Lisa said, "There's a little place to buy food in the park and a separate area for eating," she looked at us, "Are we ready to go?"

I stepped into my bathing suit and started to pull it up. As it got further up my legs it started to feel tight. I had to yank it to get it up over my hips, but then I couldn't get it any further- it was too small! The shoulder straps barely came up to my chest. I sat down on the edge of the bed and tears came to my eyes. I hadn't been swimming since before Mommy had gotten sick, and I hadn't even thought of needing a bathing suit.

The bathroom door opened and Daddy walked out holding his clothes. He was wearing dark blue swim trunks and a black t-shirt. He placed his clothes on the bureau and looked at me.

"Come on, Charlie, get changed, what are you waiting for?" he came over to the bed, and then saw my face. "What's wrong?"

I felt embarrassed for some reason, and stood up, pulling on the straps of my suit. "It—it's too small!" I wailed, "I haven't been swimming in a long time! What am I gonna do?"

Daddy took one of the straps and tried to pull it up over my shoulder. "Wow, it is small, isn't it?"

I started to cry harder. "I—I won't be able to go swimming!"

There was a knock on the door that connected the rooms. Lisa called, "Is everybody decent?" and came in from their room, wearing a one-piece suit that was black with large red flowers all over it.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern, coming over to us.

Daddy turned to her. "We've discovered that Charlie's suit is too small."

I looked at Lisa. "I haven't been swimming since before- before my mommy got sick."

"Oh," she said sympathetically, "There's a store here that sells bathing suits in the lobby, we can stop by on the way to the waterpark and get you one, all right? I'll help you find one that fits."

"Okay," I sniffled and wiped my eyes.

"Thanks, Lisa," Daddy said.

I took my clothes into the bathroom and changed back into them, and we went down to the lobby.

"Ben and I will hang out here," Daddy turned to us, " No, uh, bikini or any of those suits with all the strings and stuff, okay?" he said gruffly.

Lisa chuckled, "Okay, 'Dad'," she grinned at him, "Come on, Charlie."

I followed her into the store and she started to look through the racks. "What size clothing do you wear?" she asked.

"Uh, size 8 usually, but sometimes smaller 'cause I'm short," I said.

She pulled a couple of suits off the rack. "Do you want a specific color?" she asked.

I shrugged.

She handed me three suits. "Try these on, and let me know if they fit, okay?"

We walked over to the dressing rooms and the saleswoman that had been hovering around unlocked the door.

"Do you want me to come in and help you?" Lisa looked at me.

"No, I got it," I told her.

"Leave your underwear on when you're trying the suits on," the saleswoman called as I shut the door.

The first two suits were too big for me. I heard Lisa chatting as I changed. The third suit was light blue with some sparklies in the fabric, and it fit okay, but the straps felt weird on my back.

"How's it going?" Lisa asked through the door, "Do any of them fit?"

I opened the door. "This one is the only one that fits, but the straps feel funny," I turned around.

"That type of strap is called a racerback," she told me, "If you're not used to it, it can feel weird. Look what I found, Charlie."

I turned around, and she brought something out from behind her back. Her eyes were sparkling and she was grinning. She was holding a Hello Kitty bathing suit!

"I know it's kind of girly, and you're not really into that, but I think you should try it on," she handed it to me. I went back into the dressing room.

The suit was pink, of course, and it had a picture of Hello Kitty wearing sunglasses, laying in an inner tube wearing a bathing suit just like this one. It was a one-piece, and it had ruffles on the straps, and a little attached pink ruffly skirt that was made of sparkly fabric and looked like a ballerina tutu. I didn't really like the ruffles but a lot of Hello Kitty stuff had them, so I wore it anyway.

I opened the dressing room door and Lisa turned. She and the saleswoman both got big smiles on their faces.

"Oh, you look adorable," Lisa said, "What do you think?"

"It's...okay," I said hesitantly.

"It fits you really well, like it was made for you," the saleswoman said.

"I think you should get it," Lisa told me.

"You doing okay in there?" Daddy called from the entrance.

"Yes, almost done," Lisa called back, "Dean, come here."

Daddy came walking into the store with Ben straggling behind.

"Look at this," Lisa gestured to me.

Daddy looked at me and got a big grin on his face. I started to blush with all of them looking at me.

"Charlie, that's...you look...really cute," Daddy said. It was like he couldn't stop smiling at me. I saw Lisa and the saleswoman grin at each other.

"You want to get it?" Lisa asked me.

"Uh, okay," I said.

"Take it off so I can ring it up, and I'll cut the tags off for you so you can wear it out of here," the saleswoman said, "You really do look cute in that."

"Thank you," I mumbled. I went into the dressing room and took off the suit, and handed it out the door. In a couple of minutes, Lisa handed it back to me, and I put it on again, and then gathered up my clothes.

We left the store together and Daddy took my hand. "It'll be easier to spot you, too, with that little skirt-thing," Daddy said.

"It's called a tutu, Dean," Lisa said, rolling her eyes and pretending to be annoyed.

"Well, I don't know about all this girly stuff!" Daddy protested with a smile.

"Charlie and I will have to give you a crash course on it, then," Lisa smiled back at him, "Won't we, Charlie?"

"Uh, okay," I said.

We walked down a set of steps to the entrance of the water-park. When we walked in, it was amazing. There was a huge structure that looked like a log cabin, but it was all open. It had ladders and steps and tunnels and climbing nets and there was water pouring out everywhere. A bunch of people were gathering in front of it, and a bell started to clang.

"Watch this!" Ben said excitedly, and he pointed up. I looked up. On the very top of the structure, there was a huge bucket, and as we watched, it tipped over, pouring gallons and gallons of water down over everything, including the people standing there. They shrieked and yelled with laughter.

"That's cool!" I said.

"Let's get some towels, and then we can find a place to sit," Lisa said.

We walked over to a kiosk that had stacks of folded towels. A girl behind the counter looked at me and said, "Your suit is so cute, I used to love Hello Kitty when I was little!"

"Uh, thanks," I said.

Lisa handed us towels, and we followed her as she made her way over to where there were rows and rows of lounge chairs.

"We can get some drinks and just sit here if you want," she said to Daddy.

"Beer?" Daddy asked.

"No, we have to be in the food area for that," Lisa told him, "We can get some beer later and go in the adult hot tub!" her eyes sparkled, and Daddy laughed. "Can't wait for that," he said.

We set our towels down, and I followed Ben around. There was a ride called "Lazy River" where you laid in an inner tube and the water current pulled you around a twisty path. There was a wave pool that made big waves twice an hour, a pool that had large floats shaped like lily pads that you had to try and walk across, a large pool area for little kids to play, and several water rides that were giant slides. You had to climb way up several flights of stairs to get to the top for them.

"It's more fun to go on them with more people, we can get Mom and, uh, Dean to go with us later," Ben said. We climbed into the big cabin structure that we had seen when we first came in. It had smaller slides attached to it and I spent some time going down them.

We got a pizza and ate dinner in the food area, and then went up to our rooms to change into our costumes. Lisa said that a mom had told her that sometimes they ran out of candy, so it was better to walk around early.

Ben and I had each been given a plastic bag, and you were supposed to walk around to all of the stores and restaurants in the building for candy. After we had walked around and stopped at every place we could think of, Daddy suggested we go to the arcade.

"All right, that's enough," Lisa told Ben as he reached into his bag again. "I told you two pieces, and that's all."

"Aw Mom!" he protested.

"You can eat more when we're watching the movie, all right? No more right now."

We walked into the arcade, which was brightly-lit and very loud. There was a climbing wall on one side, that connected to a play area with a set of large tubes. The tubes were attached to the ceiling and kids could go through them and look down at everyone in the arcade. Daddy put some money into a machine and then handed us tokens.

"Come find me when you need more," he said, "Hey, Lisa, didn't you tell me that you were the Ms. Pac-man champ when you were younger?"

"You bet," she grinned at Daddy.

He pointed. "Well then let's go."

We looked over- there were a set of "old school video games" like Galaga, Frogger, and Ms. Pac-Man.

"You're on!" Lisa smacked Daddy's shoulder, "Well, kids, you know where we'll be. Don't leave the arcade without us, all right?"

Ben and I agreed, and Daddy and Lisa walked over to the games.

Ben glanced around and then said to me, "Let's go into the tubes, and then we can eat more candy!" his eyes sparkled mischievously, "Wanna do trades?"

"Okay," I agreed. We climbed into the tubes and crawled over near the opposite wall from where Daddy and Lisa were. We both dumped our bags out and started dividing everything up.

Ben started to unwrap candies and pop them in his mouth.

I ate a couple of small chocolate bars.

"This is so cool, we don't have to wait for our parents to check the candy over! Oh, I love these!" he opened a package of sour gummies and started to eat them. "D'you like sour stuff?"

"It's okay," I said, "I like chocolate better."

"You can have all mine," he said, pushing the bars at me.

"Ugh, no thanks," I groaned, "My tummy doesn't feel good now."

I scooped up the candy and put it in my bag.

All of a sudden there was a loud bang and the lights went off for a moment, then came back on. Several people screamed and exclaimed loudly, and a couple of little kids started to cry. It got quiet, and then people started to murmur. We looked out of the little window on the side of the tube. A whole row of games that were along the far wall were dark, and the lights in the ceiling above them weren't working.

"Lindsey? Lindsey, let's go!" I heard a woman calling below us.

"Coming Mommy," a little girl called in reply.

"Maybe we should go too," I said nervously.

"Nah, we're cool," Ben said.

I thought I heard Daddy calling, "Charlie?"

There was a loud electronic squeak, and then a voice came over the loudspeaker. "Attention patrons, we've just been informed that one of the fuses blew. All the games on the south wall are not working at this time. We need to close the arcade down so that we can work on fixing this. If you have any tokens left or tickets to be redeemed, bring them back tomorrow. Thank you for your understanding."

I looked at Ben. "They're closing, we better go."

He giggled. "No, let's stay here, we can keep eating our candy and then play on the other games after everyone's gone!"

"But Ben, they'll see us!" I said.

I heard Daddy call, "Charlie!" It sounded like he was right under us.

"Ben!" Lisa called. I peeked out of the window- they were standing directly below where we were.

I felt worried. "C'mon, Ben, we gotta go now! Daddy and- your mom are looking for us!" I gulped- I had almost said 'Mommy' about Lisa!

"No, stay!" he grabbed my arm, "Let's stay and keep eating! I'll let you have all my taffies!"

"No, Ben I wanna go!" I said, "I don't want any more candy, and Daddy's gonna get mad if we keep hiding!"

Daddy and Lisa called our names again, getting louder. I could hear that Daddy's voice was getting upset.

Ben let go of me and crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. "Fine! Be that way!" he snapped.

I crawled away from him and then scooted over to the slide part and went down the slide to the bottom. As I got out of the tube, I saw Daddy standing a few feet away. He turned and saw me, and his face flooded with relief. As I walked over, his face got hard.

"Lisa!" he called. She was over at the front desk talking to a worker. She turned and saw me, and started to come over to us.

Daddy grabbed my arm. "What-the- hell- are you doing, little girl?" he asked tightly.

"Daddy, I'm sorry-" I blurted. He turned me and swatted my bottom.

Lisa looked down at me. "Where's Ben? What were you two doing?"

"Uh-" I said nervously.

"You've got chocolate on your chin, did you go up there to hide and eat more candy?" Lisa licked her thumb and wiped my chin off.

"After we told you that you were not to have any more?" Daddy asked sternly, raising his eyebrows at me.

I felt myself blushing. "Uh...yeah, we decided to trade some an' then eat some more."

"Whose idea was this?" Lisa asked, "Was it both of you, or just one of you? Because this sounds like something Ben would do. He's obsessed with candy."

"Uh, it—it was Ben's idea," I said, feeling bad. I felt like I was tattling on him.

"That little-" Lisa make a sound in the back of her throat. She walked over to the bottom of the slide and stuck her head in. "Ben? Ben! Come down out of there!"

There was no sound.

"Benjamin Isaac Braeden! I know you're in there, Charlie told us! If I have to come in there after you-" Lisa started to crawl into the tube.

I looked up at Daddy. "Daddy, I feel like I tattled on Ben."

"No, you didn't, Lisa asked you a question, and you answered her. That's different from tattling, and this is one of those situations where he's done something wrong and you're telling an adult about it," Daddy looked at me seriously.

"I only had a couple of chocolate bars," I told him, "an' then I didn't want any more, 'cause my tummy started to feel yucky. When they said the arcade was closing I said we should go, but Ben wanted to stay there so that we could sneak out later and play the games. But- but I came out 'cause I knew you'd be upset."

Daddy's face relaxed slightly. "I'm proud of you for that, Charlie," he smiled at me, "But the two of you went off and hid and ate candy after you were told no more, and then you didn't come right away when we called you. You're still in trouble for that."

I looked down at the floor.

Lisa was backing out of the tube, and Ben came out after her. He looked angry. Lisa took the bag out of his hands and they walked over to us.

"Why'd you have to tell them where I was!" Ben snapped at me, and he gave me a shove. I stumbled into Daddy, and he grabbed my arms to keep me from falling.

"Benjamin!" Lisa admonished, and at the same time Daddy smacked Ben's butt and said, "Ben! You don't put your hands on your sister!"  
Ben scowled at all of us.

"All right, let's go. Back to the room, young man. Time for an attitude adjustment." Lisa said in a tight voice.

"Aw Mooooomm-" Ben complained.

"No, I've had quite enough," she said, taking his hand, "Let's go."

Daddy and I walked next to Lisa and Ben and we were all quiet as we took the elevator to our floor and walked to our rooms.

Daddy opened the door to our room and we all followed him in.

"Have a seat," he gestured to the sofa. Ben and I walked over and sat down.

Daddy and Lisa stood in front of us. My tummy twisted nervously.

"Ben, what were you doing in the tube?" Lisa asked.

Ben stared at the floor and didn't answer.

"All right then, Charlie, would you like to tell us?" Lisa looked at me.

Ben's head came up and his mouth opened. "No fair! I'll-"

Lisa held her hand up flat, palm out. "No, you had your chance. Charlie, go ahead."

"Uh, Ben said let's go into the tubes so we can eat more candy, and asked if I wanted to trade. So, uh, we did." I squirmed, and glanced at Ben, who was staring at the floor with a sulky look on his face.

"So it was Ben's idea to eat the candy. After you had been told no more candy," Lisa said, folding her arms.

"Uh-yeah." I gulped, "I didn't want that much 'cause my tummy started to feel bad. And then the lights went out for a second and they made the 'nouncement, I said we should go and Ben said we should stay in the tubes, so we could sneak out later and play on the games."

"Could you hear us calling you?" Daddy asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I said they would see us and that you guys were calling us so we should go," I looked up at Daddy, "I said you'd be mad if we kept hiding."

"You got that right," he said dryly.

"Ben didn't want to go, but I did, so I got all my candy and came out of the tube," I said.

"Is that how it happened, young man?" Lisa asked him.

"Well...yeah," Ben said, "but-"

"No, there is no but," Lisa said. She looked at Daddy, and they walked over to the kitchen area and dumped out our bags onto the counter, sorting through everything. They talked quietly for a couple of minutes, and then walked back over to us.

"We were planning on taking you both to watch the movie, but that's not happening," Daddy said, "Early bedtime tonight."

Ben looked up, relief on his face. "Th-that's all?"

Lisa shook her head. "Oh no, young man, that's after the spanking you're about to get. You ate almost all of your candy!"

"But Mooooomm-" Ben whined.

"Let's go, young man," Lisa said sternly, and he stood up and followed her into their room. The door between our rooms closed with a decisive click.

Daddy came over to me. "You're getting a spanking too, Charlie," he told me, "Go get changed into your pajamas."

I got my nightgown out and changed in the bathroom, and did my night-time routine. I folded up my costume neatly and put it in my duffle when I came out. Daddy was sitting on the sofa. I walked over to stand in front of him, and glanced down- and then I gulped- the paddle was sitting on the coffee table!

I looked up at him, feeling my tummy twist anxiously.

Daddy looked at me, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I'm not going to use the paddle this time, Charlie," he said evenly, "But I'm going to remind you that one of your rules is that you are not to go wandering off without telling someone. This is the second time you've done that recently. You and Ben went to his friend's house without asking us, and then you and Ben snuck off to eat candy after you were told not to, and then when we called you, you didn't come out right away."

I blushed and put my hands behind my back, "Sorry, Daddy," I said quietly.

"Look at me, Charlie," he said, "You need to understand something."

I raised my head and looked at him. His face was serious and his eyes were shiny. When he spoke his voice was deep. "When you were—got taken, I was- I was at my wit's end, all I wanted was to find you, and not knowing if I would-" he stopped for a moment and closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He opened his eyes and looked at me again. "Those were some of the worst hours of my life. And when you go traipsing off on your own, it- it sends me into a panic again. I'm not making rules to be strict, I've made them to keep you safe, and when you disobey, it makes me mad. And then when I can't find you- well, that- that scares the hell out of me. You can't just follow Ben around either, you've both got to keep an eye on each other. You need to obey the rules I've made, and not just go off and do what you want. And you need to think about how your actions affect other people."

My eyes had filled with tears during Daddy's speech and I felt guilty. I hadn't even thought about him being scared of losing me.

"M' sorry, Daddy-" I started to say again.

"I know, Charlie, but I'm still going to punish you. And the next time you wander off without telling anyone, or sneak off like you did, I will paddle you. Is that clear?"

I gulped again. "Yes, Daddy."

He sat up. "All right, come here," he beckoned me with his hand. I walked around the coffee table, and he turned me over his lap. As I put my head down on the sofa I could hear the sounds of swatting coming from Lisa and Ben's room. And then the sounds of swatting started as Daddy brought his hand down for the first time.

I started to cry right away because I felt so bad. My nightgown was thin, so the sting built up quickly as Daddy spanked me.

"You will do what you're told, and you will follow the rules. It's important that you follow the rules and stay safe," Daddy said as the swats continued to fall.

"Yes, Daddy," I whimpered.

"You will not sneak off and hide and when I call you, you will come to me right away. You got it?" He laid a couple of swats on the lowest part of my butt.

"Yes! Yes Daddy I'm sorry!" I wailed as his hand fell a couple more times.

Then he lifted me up to sit in his lap. I threw my arms around him and sobbed into his flannel. He hugged me to his chest and stroked my hair. After I had calmed I realized that there was still swatting going on in the other room, and I could hear Ben crying now too.

I looked up at Daddy. "Ben told me that his mom's spankings don't always hurt," I told him.

"Well, I guess he's feeling it this time," Daddy said as Ben wailed.

He carried me over to the bed and tucked me in. "I want you to be safe, Charlie," he leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Yes, Daddy," I murmured sleepily. All of the activity I had done today had tired me out, and I was falling asleep.

I woke up when Daddy leaned over me. "I've got to go out to the car for a couple of minutes, okay? I'll be back."

"Mmm," I murmured, rolling over. I heard the door close and the lock turn.

I woke up a little when I heard the door close again. Then I heard rustling and a noise that it took me a second to figure out...it sounded like kissing! I opened one eye and looked across the room. Daddy and Lisa were standing by the door, with their arms around each other.

"I had no idea the back seat was so roomy," Lisa said quietly, running her hand through the back of Daddy's hair, and Daddy chuckled low. I wanted to ask what she meant, but I was half asleep, and I drifted off again before I could even try to talk.


	53. Chapter 53

The bed was bouncing. I opened my eyes and rolled over- Ben was on the end of my bed, grinning at me.

"Wake up!" he said excitedly, "We have a whole day here, let's get started!"

I heard Lisa's voice, "Ben, I told you to let them sleep!"

"Whaaa?" I heard Daddy mumble from the bed next to me.

"C'mon, we can go down to the breakfast buffet, they have all kinds of food there!"

Lisa chuckled. "It looks like Charlie and Dean are not really morning people, Ben."

A couple of minutes later I smelled coffee and rolled over again. Lisa was standing by Daddy's bed, and Daddy was sitting up drinking a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, Lis," he smiled up at her. Then he looked over at me. "Let's get dressed and go eat some breakfast."

After we ate, we went back to our room and got changed into our bathing suits. We went to the waterpark, grabbed towels, and went to find some chairs.

"Lisa and I will either be sitting here or over in the food area," Daddy said, "What's the rule?"

"Uh, no leaving the park," I said.

"And no buying food without asking," Lisa gave Ben a look.

"Okaaay," he said, "C'mon, Charlie, I'll show you all the different things we can do!"

As we walked away, a little girl called to me, "I love your bathing suit! Hello Kitty rocks!"

I blushed and said, "Thanks!"

Ben and I climbed in the huge cabin structure with the bucket on top, through the tunnels and up the ladders and went down the water slides. There were hoses that you could squirt each other with and places to dump water on people if you could get them to stand below you. We went on the Lazy River and then into the wave pool, but I didn't go that far in, because I couldn't swim.

Daddy and Lisa came over to us in the water.

"How's it going?" Daddy asked.

"Okay," I said, "I can't go that deep here 'cause I can't swim."

"Oh, you don't know how to swim?" Daddy looked at me.

"No, uh, Mommy was scared of the water. She always said she'd take me to swim lessons but she never did."

"Do you want me to get you one of the floaty vests?" Lisa asked.

"No, I just don't go in deep."

"All right, they're over there if you want to get one," she pointed to a rack that had all different sizes of vests for kids. "The good thing is, most of the big rides end in shallow water."

There was a roaring noise, and Ben said, "The waves are gonna start!"

Daddy looked at me. "Want me to take you in deeper, where the waves are bigger?"

I felt a little bit nervous, but I agreed. He picked me up and set me on his hip, and walked into the deeper water. He held on to my waist and jumped when the waves went by us, and it felt like we were being carried. It was a neat feeling.

After we got out, Daddy said he wanted more coffee, so he and Lisa went to get some.

I followed Ben back over to the other side of the park. There was a large pool with a volleyball net stretched across one end, and a bunch of older teens were in the water, hitting a volleyball back and forth.

At the other end there were a couple of basketball nets, and several boys in the water. One of them saw us and called, "Hey kid, we need one more for our team, wanna play?"

"Uh, okay," Ben started to walk over to the side of the pool. I followed him, noticing that it said, "4 feet" on the pavement.

"Um, Ben, I can't go in there, it's too deep for me," I told him, " 'Member, I can't swim?"

"Well, I wanna play basketball for a while!"

"But Ben-"

"Do we have to be together every second? Go find something else to do!" he snapped, turning away from me. He dove into the water, and when he surfaced, the boy that had spoken to him said, "All right, we're ready now! Let's kick some butt!"

I sighed and walked away. I climbed up into the big cabin structure and then went down the smaller water slide a couple of times, and then I got an inner tube and want on the Lazy River again. Then I went and found Daddy. He and Lisa were sitting in the food area drinking coffee.

"Hey, what's up, Charlie?" Daddy asked, putting his hand on my back.

"Nothing," I shrugged.

"Where's Ben?" Lisa asked.

"He's, uh, he wanted to play basketball with some boys," I said uneasily. I didn't want to get him into trouble.

"Why aren't you playing too?" Lisa looked at me with a slight frown.

"The pool is too deep for me," I said, "And Ben wanted to play with them and not me, he told me to find something else to do."

Lisa's frown deepened. "That wasn't very nice of him."

Daddy leaned forward. "Well, they aren't going to want to be together constantly, Lis, give him a break. They're still getting used to the sibling thing. I'm sure Charlie found stuff to do on her own," he sipped his coffee.

"Yeah," I said.

"You want to go on one of the big slides?" he asked me. There were four different huge slides, and in order to get to them you had to climb up multiple flights of stairs, all the way up almost to the ceiling.

"Uh, can we try the smallest one first?" I asked nervously.

Daddy laughed. "Are you scared? Sure, we can," he stood up and held out his hand. I took it and we started to go up the stairs. It seemed like it took forever to get up to the top. We had to wait in line because each inner tube could only hold 4 people. When it was our turn, Daddy sat behind me. The teenager who was working the ride pulled the inner tube into position, asked, "Ready?" and then pushed us with this foot.

The ride was very fast, and we went around several curves and spun around at the bottom, and it took my breath away. The inner tube landed in a shallow pool with a huge splash, and Daddy laughed.

"That was awesome!" he said, getting out of the tube. He helped me out and pulled the tube back to the side of the pool. "Let's go see if Lisa wants to go on a ride too."

When we walked back over to the table, Ben was there. The four of us climbed up the huge staircase again and decided to go on one of the other huge slides. The tunnel was larger and lit up with different colored lights and the raft that the four of us were in spun around as we went downwards. When it dumped us into the water, something happened, and the raft tipped over. I fell into the water and felt myself going under, and then the raft was on top of me. I started to flail and panic, and then I felt hands on me, grabbing me up out of the water. Daddy had ahold of me.

"Oh, baby, are you okay?" he looked at me with concern.

I was coughing and spluttering because I had swallowed some water.

"That was too scary, Daddy," I said, trying not to cry.

"It scared me too," he hugged me, "Let's get out. Are you hurt?"

Lisa had hurt the muscles in her shoulders when the raft tipped over, so she wanted go to the hot tub. Ben wanted to keep riding the big slides, so Daddy said he would take him. I went with Lisa over to the area with the hot tubs.

Lisa leaned back into the steaming water, and said, "Ohhh, this feels good. I don't know what I did to my shoulders."

I moved around, finding all the water jets that were down towards the bottom of the tub. I walked across from her, and a toddler wearing a large puffy floaty vest came drifting over to us, being pushed by the jets of water. She had big blue eyes and long curly dark hair.

She splashed her hands in the water and screeched, "Tubby!"

I walked over to her and reached for her, to take her back to her family. She leaned over and grabbed my hands, and I towed her forward.

"There you are!" I heard a woman say, and I turned. A woman with short blonde hair smiled at me. "These safety vests are so buoyant, she keeps getting away from me!"

When the toddler saw the woman, she said, "Mama!" in a happy voice, and I saw the woman holding her wrapped in a blanket, and felt the love that the little girl felt for the woman.

I passed the toddler to her mother, and then I blurted, "She loves you very much."

"Aww, thank you," said the woman, smiling.

"And she loves the man with the beard too," I blurted again, seeing a man with dark curly hair and beard standing next to the woman- he had his arm around the woman's shoulders.

The woman got a shocked look on her face. A man walked over next to her, and the little girl looked at him and held her arms up, saying, "Dada!"

"Honey, what's she talking about?" asked the man, looking at the woman. He was tall and balding and clean-shaven. He was not the man I had seen.

I gulped and walked backwards, over to Lisa. I could hear the man behind us saying, "What was- what bearded man? Honey?"

"Lisa, I gotta go," I said quickly, feeling my face get red. I scrambled out of the hot tub and hurried away, over to the table where we had stored our towels.

I sat down and put my head down on the table, feeling scared and trying not to cry.

"Charlie?" I heard Daddy's voice. I lifted my head. Daddy and Ben were walking over and at the same time, Lisa was coming from the direction of the hot tub.

I got tears in my eyes. "I—I saw something-" I blurted, "and I'm not sure-" I looked up at Daddy and told him what I had seen. I saw him looking at Lisa.

"Well, honey, we can't be sure what it was that you saw," Lisa told me, "The bearded man could be another family member, like the baby's uncle or something. Let it go, okay? You didn't do anything wrong."

"But- they were upset!" I wailed.

Daddy came over and squatted down in front of me, his eyes searching mine. "Remember, Charlie, you're not going to get into trouble for your abilities, right? It's all right," he said soothingly, putting his hand on mine.

"It's after 1 o'clock, let's go get some lunch," Lisa said.

Daddy stood up. "I think that's a great idea," he agreed.

"I don't want to leave now!" Ben protested, "You said we could go on The Tornado again!"

"We will, Ben, later- let's go eat," Daddy said, "Charlie needs a break."

"Not fair that we hafta leave because of her," Ben grumbled, giving me a small push.

"Ben!" Lisa scolded.

Daddy leaned down to Ben and looked him in the eyes. "Ben, you put your hands on Charlie again, and you'll be taking a trip across my knee," he said sternly.

Ben blushed and looked down.

"Apologize!" Lisa snapped.

Ben glanced at me. "Sorry," he muttered.

I fell into step next to Daddy, and he put his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the elevator.

"You okay?" he asked as we went into the room.

I nodded and went to get my clothes. I could hear Lisa talking to Ben in their room, and it sounded like she was scolding him again.

We had to wait a long time for a table at the restaurant. Ben and I took out our 3DSs and started to play together. We were playing a game where you made an animal character and then went on adventures together. The devices could connect if we stood next to each other and our games could "see" each other and the characters could interact.

"All right, let's go," Lisa said when a waitress came up to us. We followed her over to a table.

"Do y'all want the lunch buffet?" the waitress asked.

"That's probably the easiest thing to do," Lisa said.

"Sure," Daddy replied.

"I'll bring your drinks and you can get started whenever y'all are ready," the waitress smiled and walked away.

"Ben," Lisa said, "Time to eat now, buddy, put it away."

"Okay Mom, hold on," Ben said, "Grab that flower!" he said to me.

"I—I can't- my game froze!" I told him, pressing the buttons quickly. The device went dark and I turned it off. "It went off!"

"Dangit!" Ben slammed his 3Ds down on the table, and I jumped. Lisa took it from him and put it in her purse. "Young man, that is quite enough out of you," she said, "From now on your 3DS stays in the room, I'm tired of you not listening."

"But Mom, what'm I gonna do while I'm waiting?" Ben protested.

"Oh, I don't know, have a conversation with one of us like a normal human being?" Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you three go get your food and I'll hold the table," Daddy said.

We followed Lisa over to the buffet. The restaurant was shaped like a horseshoe, with the food in the middle part and tables on either side.

We tried to stay together but I kept losing sight of Lisa.

"It's okay," she said, "I'm done, I'm going to go back to the table. You two wait for each other and stay together."

Ben looked at me. "I'm gonna go ask for a grilled cheese," he told me, pointing at the station where a cook was making things like grilled cheese sandwiches and paninis.

"Be right there," I said, walking over to the fruit. I took some strawberries and melon slices. When I walked over to the grill, Ben was nowhere to be found.

"Ben? Ben!" I called.

I wandered around looking for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I slipped through the line of people waiting for subs, and the line of people at the toasters, then I gave up and decided to walk back to the table. I walked into the dining room and couldn't see Daddy or Lisa or Ben anywhere!

" D-daddy?" I called hesitantly, looking around nervously.

"What's wrong, kid, can't find your table?" a waitress asked me, "Check around the other side, they're probably over there, this place is confusing."

"Oh," I said, and I walked back through the food area. Once I had walked into the restaurant on the other side, I saw them, and hurried over to the table, feeling tears starting.

Ben was sitting next to Lisa and Daddy was standing up.

"-better go and look for her, young man!" Lisa was saying as I hurried up. She looked over and saw me. "Charlie! There you are!"

Daddy turned to me, and his face became relieved. "What happened, Charlie?" he asked.

"I just went to get fruit!" I said, starting to cry, "Ben said he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich, and then when I turned around he was gone!"

"I decided I didn't want one after all, is that a crime?" Ben asked snidely.

"No, young man, but I told you to stay with Charlie. Remember, she's never been here before and she doesn't know her way around."

"She's not a baby, she can figure it out for herself!"

"Benjamin!" Lisa said, "Don't you remember, you got lost the first time you were here too!"

"The next time you're supposed to wait for Charlie, you wait," Daddy told Ben.

"Okay, fine, I will!" Ben snapped.

"Ben-" Lisa started, and Daddy interrupted her, "You keep that up and you're going to have trouble sitting, kid," Daddy said in a hard voice.

Ben blushed and looked down.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Daddy asked in that same hard voice.

"M' sorry," Ben said, in a not-quite-sulky tone.

Daddy looked at me. "You okay?" he asked me, and I nodded.

"All right, I'm going to go get some food." he said. I sat down and started to eat.

Ben didn't talk to anyone as he ate. Lisa and Daddy chatted and decided that we should take a break from the water and go out to the miniature golf range that was part of the resort. After we ate, we went outside and started to play mini golf.

We were halfway through the game when Lisa said, "Charlie, you're very red. Do you burn easily?"

"Oh, man, I forgot," Daddy said. He looked at her. "Yeah, she does, and I was thinking we were going to be indoors the whole time, and I didn't pack her sunscreen."

"I'm sure they sell sunscreen here," Lisa said.

"Well, she needs this special kind, she's allergic to regular sunscreen," Daddy explained.

"Allergic to sunscreen?" Ben asked, "That sounds weird!"

"I can't help it!" I said defensively, "Mommy tried to put 4 different kinds on me and I kept getting rashes an' I hadda have oatmeal baths all the time 'cause I was itchy!"

Ben laughed. "Oatmeal baths?"

"Yes, it's to treat itchy skin," Lisa told him, "I'm sorry you're allergic. Should we go inside then?"

Daddy tilted my head from side to side. "Yeah, Charlie should go inside." he said, "I don't want her to burn."

"Aw man!" Ben protested.

"I'll take her in, my shoulders are still hurting," Lisa said, "You boys can finish the game and we'll meet you back in the waterpark. I want to get back in the hot tub."

Lisa and I went back to the room and got back into our suits. I hung out with her in the hot tub for a while, and then Daddy came up to us.

"Wanna go on the smallest water slide?" he asked me. I got out, and followed him over to where Ben was standing.

As we walked over to the stairs, a boy called over, "Hey, Ben, want a cupcake?"

One of the boys Ben had played basketball with was in the food area with several kids and adults. There was a large spread of cupcakes and snacks set out.

"It's my birthday!" the boy told us.

"Can we, Dean?" Ben looked at Daddy.

Daddy nodded. "Sure, go ahead. I'll go check on your mom."

As he walked away, Ben asked, "Can my sister have one too?"

"Sure!" the boy told him, waving his hand at us.

A little girl came up to me. "I wike your baving suit," she said with a shy grin.

"Thanks," I said.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "Dat's my big bruvver, an' he wikes dem 'Inja Turtuls. I fink dey dumb!"

I laughed. "Me too!"

"I'm gonna have a Hewwo Kitty birfday when it's mine!" she said proudly.

The cupcakes were decorated to look like each of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's heads, with little different colored masks and everything.

A woman asked her, "Which one would you like, Maggie?"

The little girl laughed. "It don't matter, dey all dumb."

"Hey, shut up!" the boy said.

" 'Inja Turtul Dummies," Maggie said, and laughed.

The boy stepped closer to her. "I said shut up!" he repeated.

"Steven, calm down," the woman said. She handed Maggie and me a cupcake and we walked away and peeled the wrappers off.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Dorkfaces," I said to Maggie, and she laughed.

"Hey!" Ben was standing behind me, "Don't call 'em that!"

"Why not, that's what they are!" I giggled, "Teenage Stupid Ninja Turtles!"

Maggie laughed even harder. "You so funny!" she said.

"Not everyone likes them, you know!" I said to Ben.

"Well I think...I think Hello Kitty is, is stupid!" Ben snapped.

I looked at Maggie and shrugged, and we both laughed again.

"Ben, do you want to go on The Tornado again?" Daddy stood by the entrance to the food area. "Or do the two of you want to go on one of the other slides?"

"I don't like that one, can we go on a different one?" I asked, throwing my wrapper away. "Thanks for the cupcake!" I called, "Happy Birthday!"

I walked over to Daddy and put my arms around his waist. "Thanks for bringing us here, Daddy, this is really fun!"

Daddy hugged me back and said, "You're welcome, Charlie."

Ben came over to us, wiping crumbs off of his chin. "I'm ready!" he said, frowning at me slightly as we walked towards the stairs. I stuck my tongue out at him, and he stuck his tongue out at me, and we both laughed at each other.

The rest of the day seemed to go by fast. We went on the big slides a few more times, and Daddy took me into the wave pool. We got pizza for dinner, and then went to the Laser Tag arena afterwards. I had never played before, and Lisa, Ben and I had never held or shot a gun, so Daddy showed us all how to hold the laser gun and aim and shoot at people. You had to strap a vest on that would register when you got hit with the laser gun, and we practiced shooting for a little bit. Then we teamed up with a family of 5 against two other families, and ran around shooting. There were big stands to hide behind and every once in a while the arena would pump dry ice in to make it confusing, and the lasers looked neat shining through the smoke. Our team won because Daddy was such a good shot.

As we were taking off our vests, the father of the other family said to Daddy, "Wow, you're great with a gun! Are you law enforcement, or military?"

Daddy looked at him. "Something like that," he said, "My old man's a Marine, taught me everything I know."

"Well, thanks, you won the game for us!" the man held his hand out and Daddy shook it, smiling at him.

I felt very tired all of a sudden, and felt like I was falling asleep in the elevator on the way back to our rooms. Daddy helped me get undressed and into my pajamas.

"You had a big day today with no rest or nap, no wonder you're exhausted," he said. He tucked me in bed and kissed my forehead. "Listen, in a little while Lisa and I are going to go down to the grown-up hot tub and have some beer. I'll leave my cell phone number right here on the table, you call if you need anything, all right?"

"'Kay, Daddy," I murmured, but I was already falling asleep. I was exhausted, and I didn't even hear him leave the room.


	54. Chapter 54

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These kids just can't stay out of trouble...Dean has to lay down the law with both of his children!  
> *************

In the morning we ate a quick breakfast of doughnuts from the coffeeshop in the lobby. It was Sunday, and Hallowe'en, and we had to leave in a couple of hours. Lisa's shoulders and neck were still sore, so she called the spa and made an appointment to get a massage. Daddy said he would take Ben and me down to the water park one last time.

I was tired, and I guess Ben was too, because we were both a little grumpy. Neither of us could decide on what to do. I didn't want to do the things that Ben wanted and he didn't want to do the things that I wanted to do. Daddy got frustrated with us, and told us that we should just go back to the room and get ready to go. He stopped by the spa when we left and found out that Lisa was going to be at least another half an hour.

Daddy's phone rang as he was letting us in the room.

"I'm gonna see if the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are on," Ben said, and we both ran over to the t.v. to get to the remote. Since he was bigger and faster than me he got there first, and he picked it up.

"I don't wanna watch the Teenage Mutant dorks!" I snapped, trying to grab the remote from Ben.

"Would you stop calling them that!" Ben snapped back, leaning away from me, "They're cool- what would you know anyways?"

"Shut up!" I snapped, "Gimme!"

"HEY!" Daddy called loudly, "Hold on, Sam," he said into the phone, and then he cupped his hand over his phone and said to us, "Both of you need to knock it off! Find something you can both agree on!"

"How about X-Men?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm not in the mood," Ben said.

"Lemme see what's on."

"No, I want to, and I got the remote first," he pointed the remote at the tv.

"Gimmeeeee," I whined, and I grabbed for it again.

We started to wrestle, and I heard Daddy yell, "Hey!"

Ben held the remote over his head and I got on my knees to try and grab it.

"Give- it—to- meeeee-" I said tightly.

"Git offa me!" Ben snapped, pushing me away, and I smacked his arm in frustration as I fell backwards with a yelp.

"Ben and Charlie!" I heard Daddy say, "Cool it with the wrestling!"

Ben stood up on the sofa, still holding the remote up above his head.

"GIVE IT!"

"GET OFF!"

I stood up and tried to grab him, jumping in front of him, and he pushed me away again. I felt myself falling backwards and grabbed ahold of his shirt, gasping, and then everything was a blur as we fell off of the sofa.

I heard a loud clatter and then the sharp tinkle of glass breaking.

"Charlie!" I heard Daddy exclaim, "I've got to call you back," he said into the phone as he hurried over to us.

In our struggles we had fallen into the lamp on the table next to the sofa, and knocked it onto the floor.

Daddy reached down, grasping my arm, and pulled me up into a standing position, then he turned me, and I held my breath for a moment, expecting him to swat my bottom.

I heard him exhale, and then he let me go. I turned my head to look at him and he was lowering his hand.

Ben stood up, looking at Daddy with a nervous look on his face, and Daddy took the remote out of Ben's hand.

"Sofa, now," he growled at us, "Both of you, move it!"

We sat while Daddy picked up the lamp. The lightbulb had broken. He bent down and cleaned up as much of the broken glass as he could. Then he walked over and stood in front of us.

"I don't want you walking over there until I get housekeeping up here to clean this up," he told us, "Now, I told the two of you to knock it off and you didn't listen. In fact, you took your bickering one step further and got physical. You broke a lightbulb because you were wrestling, and you are not supposed to be putting your hands on each other. So you're both going to get a spanking."

Daddy walked over to me and took my wrist. "Come on, little girl," he said.

Ben stood up. "You sit your butt back down, you're next," Daddy said sternly.

Ben's eyes got wide and he gulped.

Daddy walked us over to the far side of the bed and sat down, holding me in front of him.

"When I tell you to stop doing something, you stop," he said, "and you don't put your hands on your brother or hit him, understand?"

I nodded, "Yes Daddy."

He took my arm and pulled me forward, and I struggled with him.

"Daddy, Ben's right there!" I protested.

"You get in trouble together, you get punished together," he growled, and he yanked me down over his lap. I buried my face in the bedspread, feeling embarassed. At least Daddy's body would be partly blocking me from Ben's view. He flipped the little skirt on my swimsuit up, and then I let out a yelp as he spanked me the first time. The bottom of my suit had ridden up, so the lower part of my butt was hanging out, and when his hand fell, sometimes it fell on the suit and sometimes on the bare part of my bottom. It stung a lot more, and I kicked and struggled and wailed.

"Daddy please I'm sorry!" I cried out, and he laid a couple last swats on the lowest part of my bottom. He sat me up and set me on the bed.

"You stay right here while I deal with your brother," he told me, standing up.

I laid down and hugged the pillow to me, crying.

I heard Ben say, "Dean, I, uh, m' sorry dude, I uh-"

"Ben, you don't call me dude, I'm your father, not 'dude', understand?" Daddy said sharply. He waited a moment. "Verbal answer, Ben."

"Uh, yes Da- uh, Dean," Ben said, "I, uh, can't we uh, call mom, or wait until she comes back?"

"No, Ben, she deserves some time away, relaxing. You two misbehaved on my watch, so I'm taking care of it."

"But- but Dean-"

"No, Ben, that's enough. You two didn't listen to me, after I told you both more than once to stop the wrestling and arguing," Daddy's voice was stern, " and I told you yesterday that if you put your hands on Charlie one more time, I was going to spank you. And you pushed her so hard she fell off of the sofa. Now come here."

I heard the spanking start. I heard Ben's indrawn breaths, and then he yelped a couple of times as the swats continued.

"Ow! Ow, ow, De—Dean! Pl-pleeease!" Ben sounded surprised at first, and that quickly changed to upset, "M' sorry, m'sorry, Dean, ow, stop! Pleeeeeease!" he wailed finally, and then I heard him start to cry. He tried to be quiet but he was sobbing loudly. Then the spanking stopped, and all I heard was Ben sobbing and whimpering.

I could hear Daddy talking quietly to him. I sat up a little and looked over. Daddy had Ben sitting on his lap, and Ben was all snuggled up in Daddy's chest, hugging him tightly. I felt a little jealous for a moment, but then I realized that this was Ben's first time getting a spanking from Daddy, and he needed to hug Daddy. Hugs after a spanking were important, and Ben had never had a daddy to give him hugs anyway, so it was even more important that Daddy give him hugs and snuggles right now. I put my head back down on the pillow.

A couple minutes later Daddy called, "Come here, Charlie."

I walked over to him. He shifted Ben onto his left thigh and held his arm out to me. I went to him and he held me on his right thigh and hugged me.

"I know you two can be good kids, and I want to see you behaving better," he told us gently, "We're going to have a long ride in the car today, so I don't want any more bickering, understand?"

"Yes Daddy," I said, and Ben chimed in, "Yes Dean."

The door opened and Lisa came in. "Oh, I feel so much better now!" she said, coming over to us, "What happened here? Did someone get hurt?"

"Bickering over the remote, they decided to get physical and things got ugly, so they both got their butts warmed," Daddy nodded over at the lamp, " I need to call housekeeping up here to deal with that."

"I see," Lisa said, "Well, I'd probably have felt the same way. What do you have to say for yourself, young man?" Lisa raised her eyebrow and gave Ben a 'mom look'.

"Uh, s-sorry, Charlie, sorry, Dean," Ben's chest hitched.

"Me too, sorry I grabbed you Ben, sorry I didn't listen, Daddy," I said.

"Go get dressed now, Ben," Lisa said.

Daddy leaned over and kissed the side of Ben's head and ruffled his hair, and Ben stood up.

Daddy looked at me. "You too, go get changed so we can go," He kissed my cheek too, and I stood up.

I got my clothes and went into the bathroom, closing the door part way. I could hear Daddy talking to Lisa quietly.

"I kinda pulled a John Winchester," he said, "They weren't listening, and I just- lost my temper for a second. I almost did the 'grab-and-swat' thing that my dad used to do sometimes."

"Well, it's understandable, Dean. I mean, kids can get on your nerves, and two together just amplifies it."

"Yeah, don't I know it," Daddy chuckled, "Sam and I used to give Dad a run for his money, but boy, he'd blister our butts for it. I just don't- don't want to react in anger like he did sometimes, you know?"

"Dean, it's okay, I would have done the same. I'm glad it was you who had to deal with it and not me. I'm still feeling my way with Charlie, and she's not completely comfortable with me yet."

Daddy sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he chuckled again, "Ben tried to talk his way around it, wanted to wait for you. I said no, it happened on my watch, I'm dealing with it."

Lisa made a scoffing sound. "Yeah, that kid is notorious for trying to talk his way out of a spanking. He didn't smart-mouth or act defiant?"

"No, he accepted it," Daddy said.

"I'm going to go check on him."

I came out to the bedroom holding my damp suit. "Daddy, what should I do with my suit?" I asked.

He walked over to the counter and grabbed a plastic bag. "Put it in here." he handed it to me. I put the swimsuit in the bag and then hugged Daddy. "I'm sorry I didn't listen before," I said.

He looked down at me. "You already apologized, but thank you, Charlie," he said.

I hugged him tighter, and he said, "We didn't get our morning snuggle in, did we?"

He walked us over to the sofa and sat down, and I climbed into his lap and put my arms around him again. We sat quietly together until Lisa came in to tell us that they were ready to go.

 

Ben and I were in the back seat waiting for our 3DS game to connect. He leaned over to me. "You were right," he said quietly.

I turned my head to look at him. "Huh?"

"About Dean- man, his spanking did hurt!" he shook his head, making a face.

"Yeah, all the Winchesters have hard hands," I said ruefully.

Ben's eyes got big for a second. "You mean- Sam—"

I nodded. "He's so big, an' his hand is really big too, and you definitely feel it."

Ben shifted on the seat. "Geez, I hope he never spanks me."

I shrugged. "He probably won't, but he takes care of me too, an' he's my home-schooling teacher, so he spanks me if I'm bad when I'm with him."

"Oh boy," he said, "Okay, I'm connected, can you see me?"

We played our game together for almost an hour and then our batteries ran out. I fell asleep for a while after that. Daddy got lunch at a drive-through so that he could keep driving, because we wanted to get back. Daddy and I had to pack to go to Missouri's, because we were going to leave in the morning, and we were going to go to Lisa's neighborhood in the evening to trick-or-treat.

 

 

Daddy pulled the car into the parking space and said, "Wait."

I waited until he had turned the engine off and then got out and ran towards the hotel room door. It opened as I got up to it and Uncle Sam was standing there with a big smile on his face.

"Uncle Sam!" I exclaimed, and he picked me up and swung me up high so that I shrieked. He hugged me.

"I missed you, Charlie!" he said, walking inside.

"I missed you too!" I said.

"Did you have fun?" he asked, setting me down.

"Yeah, it was really neat, but there were a couple of big water slides that were kinda scary. I fell off the raft once."

"There she is!" Grandpa John came into the room from the other bedroom and I ran to him and threw my arms around him. He leaned down and hugged me.

"I missed you, Grandpa John!" I said.

He chuckled. "Missed you too, little one."

Daddy brought our bags in. "The plan is to go over to Lisa's at 6 pm, trick-or-treating in her neighborhood starts at 5 and usually goes until about 10. We won't stay there for that long, though, because we need to get on the road early tomorrow. You going to come, Sam?"

"Yeah, I think so," Uncle Sam said.

"Dad? You sure you don't want to come?" Daddy looked at Grandpa John, who shook his head. "No, Dean, I don't. And you—you be careful."

"I know, Dad, I will."

Uncle Sam's phone rang and he went into his bedroom to talk. Daddy unpacked our duffles and sorted through the dirty clothes to do laundry.

"Pack some toys to play with too, if you want," he told me, "We may be there for at least a couple of days."

"Okay, Daddy."

Uncle Sam came back into the room, and he had a smile on his face.

"Okay, what's that about?" Daddy asked him.

"Oh- well, I, uh-" Uncle Sam seemed embarrassed.

"Sam's been on a couple of dates," Grandpa John squeezed Uncle Sam's shoulder and grinned.

"A date?" Daddy raised his eyebrows. "With who?"

"Imani," Uncle Sam said shyly, "She said that now that Charlie's not a patient of hers any more, she'd date me. They have a strict policy about that at the PT center."

"That's great, Sam!" Daddy said with a grin.

"Is she nice like she is in PT?" I asked.

"Of course," Uncle Sam told me, "She's a really nice person."

"All right, I've got to get this laundry started," Daddy said with a sigh.

 

 

I walked next to Ben holding an orange plastic pumpkin. There were lots of kids and parents on the sidewalk and in the street, and Ben would say hi every once in a while.

"Not too far ahead, Ben," Lisa called from behind us.

"Mom, do we have to wear these?" Ben pulled at the glowing plastic bracelet on his wrist. "It doesn't go with my costume!"

"Yes, you do, it will help people see you better," she replied, "Now stop fussing with it."

I followed Ben up the sidewalk to a house. He would tell me something about the people he knew that lived in the houses. One house had a family who was into "all natural stuff" and they gave out apples. One house had an old couple who let us take three pieces of candy. Ben told me that they were like the "neighborhood grandparents" who liked to feed all the kids and let them play in their yard, because all of their grandkids were grown up now.

"Hey Tyler, cool costume!" Ben stopped on the sidewalk.

Tyler was dressed as Wolverine too, but his costume was fancier than mine. He looked at me. "What are you- girls can't be Wolverine!" he said disdainfully.

"Yes I can! I can be anything I want!" I retorted.

"No ya can't, it's wrong!" Tyler snapped.

Daddy came up behind us. "What's going on?"

"Tyler!" we heard a man's voice calling from the curb. "Leave the kid alone and let's go."

"Bye, Ben," Tyler called over his shoulder as he walked over to the curb.

"How come people keep saying that?" I grumped.

"I think some people have very rigid ideas about girls have to wear certain things and boys have to wear certain things," Lisa said.

"It's dumb!" I said.

"Yeah, it is," she agreed.

By the time we walked back to Ben's, our pumpkins were almost completely full of candy. Daddy checked some of it and said I could have one piece.

"We need to go," he said, "More travel tomorrow."

"Okay," I went up to Lisa and hugged her, "Thanks for helping me this weekend with the swimsuit and all."

"You're welcome, sweetie," she hugged me back, "I had a lot of fun with you."

Daddy hugged Ben and then Lisa.

"Bye Ben!" I called.

When we came into the hotel room, Grandpa John stood up. "I was getting worried," he said.

"Dad, I hope you didn't have too much," Uncle Sam nodded at the table.

There was a bottle of Jack Daniel's and an empty glass on the coffee table. Grandpa John's wallet was out and I noticed the old photo of him and Mary next to the glass.

Grandpa John looked a little sad. "I was just having a glass and...thinking."

"Well, don't forget, we've got to be on the road early, so let's put it away, huh?" Daddy leaned down and picked up the bottle and the glass.

 

 

Daddy woke me up before the sun was even up.

"We've got an 8 to 10 hour drive ahead of us," he told me, "Don't bother getting dressed. You're going with Grandpa John and you can sleep in his truck, and I'm going to sleep in the back of the car while Sam drives for the first leg."

I carried my Hello Kitty blanket and pillow out to the living room. Grandpa John was zipping up a duffle.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked.

I yawned.

"I think so," Daddy said.

"Dean, I'm going to suggest that if you see any former girl friends the next time we stop, that you don't go up to them," Uncle Sam said with a grin, shouldering his duffle.

"Shut up, bitch," Daddy grinned back at him.

"Make me, jerk," Uncle Sam fired back, and I followed them out to the car.


	55. Chapter 55

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for slacking on publishing new chapters, I broke my pinky at at end of last week and have been in a medicated haze. Chapters will be a bit slower coming for the next few weeks since I can only use three fingers on my left hand to type!  
> Just a warning, this chapter gets a little heavy and sad, so you may want to keep a tissue handy.  
> ********************

I woke up hearing a woman singing, "...a good word to say...Guess it's 'cause he was just as wild in the younger days, so blow you old blue northern...blow my love to me..."

I thought I heard a sniffle too, and I opened my eyes. I was curled against the door of Grandpa John's truck with my fleece blanket around me. I looked over at Grandpa John, who was wiping his eyes with his hand.

I sat up. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He leaned forward and pushed a button on the radio, and a tape slid out. He pulled it out and stuck it under his seat, then cleared his throat and glanced at me.

"I'm fine," he said gruffly, although his face was red and his eyes did look a little wet. "How are you feeling? Do you need to stop for a rest room break or anything?"

"Uh, yeah, I gotta go pee and I'm hungry," I looked down at my lap.

"Let me call your Dad and let him know, we can probably stop for a quick lunch."

We pulled into the parking lot of a diner, and Grandpa John lifted me down from the truck.

Daddy came over to us, yawning and stretching. "Let's get you some clothes, and you can get dressed," he said. I followed him over to the trunk of the Impala, and he got out my duffle. He unzipped it and pulled out a shirt and a pair of jeans.

"I don't want that one," I said, standing on my tiptoes to look into my bag. I rooted around and grabbed a Hello Kitty shirt.

"Can I get changed in the car?" I asked.

Daddy and Uncle Sam glanced around. "Sure, that's fine."

I climbed into the back seat and changed into my clothes, bringing my pjs out and handing them to Daddy. He put them in my duffle.

"Need anything else?" he asked. I shook my head, and he shut the trunk. I took his hand as we walked across the lot.

I stayed with them and didn't run ahead when we went to the restrooms. I didn't wander off at the gas station and I stayed right by Uncle Sam when we went in the store to get drinks. I didn't want to get into any sort of trouble for breaking any rules.

We had been in the car for a while and I was reading my Kindle when Daddy glanced back at me. "You've been very well behaved today, Charlie, I'm proud of you."

He smiled at me and glanced at Uncle Sam. "Man, Sam, I gotta tell ya, having two kids is just-" he shook his head, "it's a whole different energy. Now I really get why Dad acted the way he did sometimes."

"Are you saying Charlie and Ben acted like we used to?" Uncle Sam looked at Daddy.

Daddy chuckled, "No, I think we cornered the market on misbehaving Winchesters. It's just- they feed off of each other, you know? No wonder Dad would send us to opposite corners of the room sometimes."

"We thought he was being mean keeping us away from each other when we just wanted to play together."

"When really it was his way of saving his sanity," Daddy chuckled and shook his head again.

He put a tape in of Led Zeppelin music, and then I asked if we would listen to some Beatles. I didn't really like a lot of that classic rock stuff that was loud, but I did like The Beatles. We listened to a couple of Beatles tapes and then Daddy put in AC/DC. I caught his eyes in the mirror and he looked a little nervous.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" I asked him.

He gave me a little smile, but only his mouth smiled. "Nothing's wrong, baby," he said.

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel but it wasn't really in time to the music.

Uncle Sam turned back to me. "We're in Kansas now," he told me.

I looked out the window at the giant sign that proclaimed "Welcome to Kansas- the Sunflower State".

Daddy took a deep breath and muttered, "Here we go."

"How much longer?" I asked him.

"About a half an hour, forty-five minutes til we get to Missouri's house," he told me.

We drove through a city and then the scenery started to change to neighborhoods. Finally we pulled up to a curb of a two-story house with pretty trim and a porch with a swing and two rocking chairs.

We followed Grandpa John up the sidewalk quietly, and he rang the doorbell, glancing back at us. Daddy smiled at me, but his face looked nervous now.

The front door opened and a plump African-American woman with short hair was standing there.

"Hello, hello, y'all come in!" she stepped back, and Grandpa John walked in first. Daddy went next and I stayed close behind, with Uncle Sam behind me.

We were in a large foyer that had a radiator against the far wall, with a few straight backed chairs next to a staircase. There was a small coffee table with magazines scattered across it and some strings of shiny faceted crystals hanging from the ceiling.

"Well, lemme look at you," she said, "John Winchester," she said warmly, putting her hands on his cheeks for a moment, "How you been, honey?"

He smiled at her. "I've been all right," he said.

"You got rid of the beard and now I can see those handsome dimples of yours!" she smiled back at him and they hugged.

She turned to us, and I stepped closer to Daddy and took his hand.

"Dean," she said with a little grin, "I see you been busy," she glanced down at me, "You got not one, but two kids now? How many more little Dean Winchesters we got out there?"

Daddy blushed. "As far as I know it's just Charlie and Ben," he said sheepishly.

Missouri turned her attention to me. "And here she is," she said. She held her hands out to me. "How are you, child?"

I hesitated, and she said, "Don't be nervous, honey."

I took her hands, and then I saw her, standing in a yard, wearing a broad brimmed straw hat and cutting flowers off of a bush.

I looked up at her and she let my hands go. "What did you see?" she asked.

"Um, you were in a yard, cutting flowers, you had a big hat on," I said.

"That's right," she nodded, "That's what I send to people when I want to block them. It's kinda like a 'screensaver' on a computer, a stock image that doesn't tell them anything." she leaned down to me, "I can teach you how to do that, and also how to block other people so you aren't gettin' their energy and then blurtin' out their business."

"You can?" I asked, feeling relieved.

"Yes, I can. Let's go into the living room and sit down and visit a while." She extended her arm, and Grandpa John walked through a large open doorway with a wooden beaded curtain in the doorframe that had been swept to one side. I followed Daddy in and Missouri greeted Sam as they walked, " Hey Sam, been keepin' busy with your brother, sweetie?"

"Not that kind of busy," Uncle Sam grinned, "Trying to stay out of trouble."

"Your brother's the one who could find enough trouble for the both 'a you," she said with another little smile, "Sit down, y'all, and I'll bring out some food."

Against one wall was a long sofa with a knitted afghan across the back of it, flanked by an end table on each side. There was a long coffee table in front with a large doily on it that was surrounded by magazines and books. Across from the sofa were two overstuffed armchairs.

Grandpa John sat down at the end of the sofa and I sat between him and Daddy. Uncle Sam sat down across from us in an armchair. I started to look around at everything.

The room had light colored walls and all the trim around the doors and windows was dark brown wood. The floor was a lighter colored wood with a large faded area rug in the center of the room. There were tall windows at one end, with a long table in front that was brimming with potted plants and knick-knacks. In one corner stood a large glassed- in cabinet, that held old framed photographs, fancy looking teacups, vases, and other odds and ends like large chunks of uncut gemstones and small leather-bound books.

Missouri bustled in carrying a large tray and Grandpa John jumped up to help her with it. He took it from her and set it on the coffee table.

"Thank you, honey, always the gentleman," she smiled at him again, "Sit down, I've got coffee brewin' for you," She looked at Daddy and Uncle Sam, "Iced tea, or lemonade?"

Daddy looked over at me. "You want some lemonade, Charlie?" he asked.

"Yes please," I said timidly. Missouri poured a glass of lemonade for me and then handed out small plates of cookies. "I've got shortbread and oatmeal cookies," she said.

The plate she handed me was china, with large red and pink flowers on it. I balanced it carefully on my knees.

"Let me check, that coffee should be done," she left the room again, "Boys, either of you want any?"

"I'll take some," Uncle Sam said. I looked at him hopefully- maybe he would let me have a sip of his.

In a moment she was back with another small tray that had china cups filled with steaming coffee and a small sugar bowl and creamer pitcher. She set the tray on the small table next to Uncle Sam and gave him a china cup and saucer, then handed one to Grandpa John.

She turned to me. "Little girls shouldn't be drinkin' coffee," she said.

I felt myself blushing. "I wasn't gonna ask," I said timidly, "H-how did you know?"

"I could feel you hoping that Sam was gonna let you have a taste of his," she said, turning to look at him, "Sam, you're a uncle now, how 'bout that? And Dean's a daddy, two times over. John, you feelin' old yet?" she grinned at him, "I 'member when these two was lil' wild things jumpin' on my sofa. You remember visiting with me when you were, oh, I'd say about two years old, Sam?" she asked.

Uncle Sam shook his head. "No ma'am, I don't."

"I only feel old when it's damp and rainy and my joints ache," Grandpa John said, grinning back at her, "Charlie keeps all of us feeling young."

"She keeps all 'a y'all on your toes," Missouri said, "Of that I'm sure." She picked up a tea cup and sat down in the other armchair next to Uncle Sam.

"Can I ask you some questions, child, about your abilities?"

"O-okay," I said hesitantly.

"When did you first notice them?"

"Uh, when I was little, I would know things about people," I said, "Like 3 or 4 maybe? I 'member I was in preschool and I knew the teacher's dog was gonna die. I—I made her cry," I could feel my face get red and I felt sad all over again, "I couldn't help it, the words just have to come out of my mouth!" I looked up at her, tears coming to my eyes suddenly.

Missouri was looking at me intently, and she nodded. "I know, honey, when your gift comes on that young it's real hard to control. Heck, a three-year-old can barely control their emotions as it is, much less an ability like this! And listen, I know you feel guilty about makin' people cry and them getting' upset, but that ain't on you, hear? You didn't cause anything, you're the messenger. It's hard for people to hear things sometimes. You couldn't help that you said things any more than you could help sneezing. It's too bad no one thought to find someone to help you manage your gifts back then,"

"Why do you keep calling it a gift?"

"Well that's what it is, child, it's a special ability that not many people have."

"I don't think its' a gift, more like a curse," I muttered.

"Oh, sweetie, there's gonna be times when you actually help people, and then you'll get to feeling it's a gift."

"That's already happened," Uncle Sam said, "Remember the waitress, with the baby?" He and Daddy told Missouri about that, and then Uncle Sam talked about the girl I had seen at PT with the incorrect diagnosis.

"So you see, Charlie, even though you can't control them, your abilities have already helped people," Missouri smiled at me. Then she looked at all of us as she spoke. "Now, I feel that I must tell you that I think it is auspicious that you all are here during this time of AllHallowTide."

"What's that?" I asked.

"AllHallowTide is the time from October 31st to November 2nd, and it is a time to remember the dearly and faithful departed. November 1st is All Saint's Day and November 2nd is All Soul's Day," Missouri looked at Grandpa John, "You know I believe that it's of importance that Mary... passed on All Soul's Day. I think that protected her from—that which was in that house."

Grandpa John nodded. "I remember you telling me."

"Why's is it suspicious that we're here on those days?" I asked.

"Auspicious," Missouri smiled at me again, "it means favorable, meaning that I think that my teaching you how to control your abilities is going to be successful."

"How are you going to do that?" I asked.

"We'll discuss that later. Now, would any of y'all like to freshen up? The bathroom's down the hall on the right."

Uncle Sam put his cup down on the coffeetable and left the room.

"Ya'll staying for supper? I made my jambalaya, and some red beans and rice," she said.

"We'd love that," Grandpa John said.

"And I've got macaroni and cheese for your girl, I know most children don't like spicy food," she stood up, "Let me go check on it, and I'll tell you when we can eat."

"What do you think, Charlie?" daddy asked.

"She seems nice," I said, "I hope she can help me."

"I think she'll be able to," Grandpa John finished his coffee.

"John, come get some more if you want," Missouri called.

I looked at Daddy. "Can she read minds?"

Daddy looked a little nervous. "Kind of...I think?"

Missouri came to the door. "Charlie, would you like to go play out back? There's a swing on the old oak in the corner if you like, and a little gazebo."

"Can I?" I asked Daddy.

"Sure," he nodded. I followed her through the kitchen and into a long yard that was mostly grass with lots of flowers and big bushes planted along the edges.

"Those bushes over there are butterfly bushes, but stay away from the flowers on the corner, they're the bee's favorite. They won't bother you long as you don't bother them."

I looked around. "This is what I saw," I said.

"Yes, this is my happy place, so I use it as my shield," she told me, "You run around and get some of your energy out, I know it's hard for a lil' one to stay cooped up in a car for so long," she smiled at me and went back inside.

I wandered around in the yard for a while looking at all the different types of flowers. Then I walked over to the swing. It was old-fashioned looking, made of wood, with thick ropes. I swung in the shade for a while, the creaking sound of the rope making me feel relaxed.

I heard the door open and sat forward, opening my eyes. Missouri had come outside, and she had a flat basket with her.

"You want to help me pick some flowers?" she asked.

I slowed the swing and got off. "Sure," I walked over to her, "What for?"

"Well, tomorrow is the anniversary of your grandmother's death. And your family wants to go and visit her grave. It's customary to bring a bouquet of fresh flowers to grave when you're visitin'. You can help me make a nice bouquet."

"Okay," I agreed.

She handed me a small pair of scissors. "Go ahead and cut what flowers you want, down at the bottom of the stem, like this," she leaned over and showed me with her own pair of scissors, "and then put the flowers in my basket." She laid the flower on its side on the flat part of the basket she had looped over her arm.

As we picked and cut flowers, she asked me questions, about when my mother had gotten sick, and different times that I had seen things, and what I had been doing when I had seen, and how I had felt when I had seen them. Then she asked me about the times that I had used to see Mary when I was little, and I told her about that.

"That's a very special thing, having that connection to her," she said, "I'm so glad that you were finally able to find Dean and come into his life. Now, you find a flower that you like, specifically for you, and cut a couple for yourself."

I found a pretty purple flower with thin petals.

"That's called a New England Aster," she told me, "We're going to use those in an exercise later, all right?"

"O-okay," I said.

"Let's go in and wash up, I can tell that the menfolk are gettin' hungry for supper."

I followed her into the kitchen. Grandpa John was standing at the stove, holding a spoon in one hand and a lid in the other. Missouri put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow, and Grandpa John put the lid on a large pot that was on the stove.

"I'm sorry, I just had to have a taste, it smells heavenly," he said with a sheepish grin.

"John Winchester, you're lucky you're so handsome, or I'd be taking my wooden spoon to your backside," she teased, "Those dimples of yours do me in. Go get your boys in here to eat, now."

Grandpa John went into the other room and I walked to the bathroom to wash my hands.

I sat and listened to them all talk about hunters that they knew and things that were happening in the area. I realized that this was where Daddy had lived until he was 4, and that maybe that was why he was so nervous. He didn't want to come back, because the night his mommy had died had been so terrible. I felt bad for him and Grandpa John- that must be why Grandpa John had been so quiet and sad over the past few days too. He would get a faraway look in his eyes every so often.

I ate mac and cheese, and then tried the red beans and rice, and I liked it. She had made it so that it wasn't spicy, but she said that you could spice it up depending on the type of sausage and spices you put in it.

After we ate, Missouri said, "Charlie, you come into the living room with me, and the men can clean up in here. Yes, John, you can take some jambalaya with you, Tupperware's in the cabinet to the left of the sink."

I followed her into the living room and sat down on the sofa. She lit several candles and then a little bundle of what looked like dried grass.

"This is a sage bundle," she said, "it's used to purify an area or your energy, it can get rid of negativity and help you relax."

She waved it in front of her and over her head, and then did it to me. It smelled a little bit musky and a little bit sweet. She took the bundle and laid it on its side in a large seashell, on a shelf in the corner, and then came to sit next to me.

She handed me the flowers I had picked. "Now, the first part of learning how to block things and protect yourself is concentrating. So what I want you to do is look at the flower, really look at it, and learn it, and then close your eyes and imagine it."

I held a flower up to my face and looked at it closely, then I closed my eyes.

"All right," she said after a minute, "Take my hand, and try to block what I'm sending you. Think about your flower."

I held her hand and closed my eyes, and I saw the butterfly bush out back.

I opened my eyes and let go.

"What did you see, child?"

"The butterfly bush in the back yard."

She nodded. "That's what I sent. Try again. Concentrate on the flower. Take a breath."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes again, reaching for her hand. This time I saw the swing next to the tree.

I said, "The swing," I opened my eyes again and let go of her.

"All right, honey, don't get upset," she said gently, "Deep cleansing breath, like me, in through your nose and out through your mouth," I imitated her breathing for a couple of breaths.

"Now, look at the aster again for a minute," She sat quietly while I looked at it up close again, "Close your eyes now."

I closed my eyes, and felt her take my hand. I thought of the flower, how the middle was yellow and orange and the petals were so thin and delicate looking.

"What did you see, Charlie?" she asked after a moment.

I opened my eyes and looked at her. "The flower," I told her.

"I could feel you concentrating- you blocked me, child! Good job!" he smile was huge. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I said. I did feel tired all of a sudden.

"Learning to use and control your abilities is like using a whole new set of muscles, and you're going to get tired at first. I think this is a good stopping point."

She stood up and went to the doorway. "Winchesters, it's time to take this lil' girl and put her to bed," she called.

Grandpa John came into the room followed by Daddy and Uncle Sam.

"Well, I've got to tell you, Charlie is the youngest person I've ever worked with, and she's by far the quickest study. She's going to do wonderful with everything."

Grandpa John smiled, and Daddy looked relieved.

"Charlie's a really smart girl, I wouldn't expect anything less," Uncle Sam smiled at me.

Missouri gave Grandpa John a bouquet of the flowers we had picked, and a plastic bag with a container of jambalaya in it.

"I'll see y'all tomorrow, you come when you're ready," she said, hugging Grandpa John, "I'll be saying a prayer for her," she told him softly.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

The gravestone said simply, "Mary Winchester 1954-1983" and then below that, "In Loving Memory."

There was a tree nearby with a bench underneath it. Grandpa John walked slightly ahead of us, holding the bouquet from Missouri's and another bouquet he had bought, of yellow roses. We all stood in front of the gravestone for a moment, and Grandpa John handed me the bouquet I had helped pick.

"Go ahead and put that down," he told me.

"Where? Just—on the ground?"

He nodded, and I crouched down and place the bouquet in front of the stone. I took Daddy's hand and looked up at him. His face was red and he looked sad.

"Mary said that yellow roses were our rose, because we started out as friends," Grandpa John said, and his voice sounded hoarse. He leaned down and laid the bouquet of yellow roses next to the other one.

"I'd like- a minute-" he choked out.

Uncle Sam took my arm, and I followed him and Daddy over to the bench. Uncle Sam and I sat, and Daddy stood next to me. I took his hand again.

Grandpa John's shoulders began to shake and I saw his broad back hitch a couple times. He put his hand up to his face, and then he fell to his knees and covered his face with his hands. I started to cry a little bit.

Daddy dropped my hand and walked over to him, and put his hand on Grandpa John's right shoulder. Then he went down on one knee and put his arms around Grandpa John, and I saw Daddy's shoulders start to shake too. I could hear murmured talking, and it sounded like Grandpa John said, "I tried, I tried, but it was just—there was too much fire—I failed her, I've failed her all these years-" and then it sounded like Daddy was shushing him. I started to cry harder.

I looked up at Uncle Sam, and tears were running down his face. He sniffed, and looked at me, and then stood up, tugging on my hand.

"Come on," he said softly, and we walked over to them. He knelt down next to Grandpa John on the left and put his arm around him, and I went to the other side of Daddy. He put his arm around me and pulled me into his side, and I turned and put my arms around him. He was snuggled next to Grandpa John and I was able to put one of my arms around part of his chest too. Everyone was crying at that point, and we all stayed there on the ground, holding each other, until we were all cried out.


	56. Chapter 56

We drove to Missouri's house, and Uncle Sam went with Grandpa John in his truck. None of us talked on the walk back to the parking lot, or in the car.

When we got to Missouri's house, she brought us inside quietly, and hugged each of us, murmuring quietly to Grandpa John as she held him and patted his back.

"Are y'all hungry, I've got the jambalaya ready to re-heat, and you know it's always better on the second day," she smiled.

Everyone shook their heads- I think that crying at the cemetery had taken something out of them. I felt tired too, and Daddy looked drained and sad.

"Well, I have somethin' to show you, come on," Missouri led us down the hallway. "This is my reading room, I use this for card readings and seances when I have 'em," she told us. There was a low table set up at the far end of the room, with all kinds of objects on it- little statues, different kinds of shells and gemstones, a tiny bird's nest, and candles.

"This is my altar," she said, "It's what I use when I worship, to help me focus my power and energy. I've made it up special today for All Soul's and to honor Mary."

There was a photo of the blonde lady on the altar, surrounded by loose flowers from Missouri's garden, some low candles, and a small dish of food.

Missouri held her hands out with her palms up over the altar, and said, "As the shadows are growing longer with the time of year, we turn our thoughts to the past and those who are no longer with us. Our memories bring both joy and pain; let us recollect and share in all the emotions that this day brings forth. May these loved ones live on today as we reflect and remember, and remind us that we are not really alone, that they are still with us in our hearts," She took a deep breath and then lowered her hands.

"Thank you," Grandpa John murmured, "Where- where did you get the photo?"

"I have somethin' for you, I've been saving it 'til I saw you again," she walked over to the side of the room, and brought over a flat gray metal box.

"I keep an eye on your old house, and the people who live there. There was a young family that moved in a couple of years ago, they had trouble with a poltergeist and I helped 'em out."

Grandpa John looked at her sharply. "Was it-"

She shook her head. "No, it was just a random spirit. That house was more open to supernatural energies, but I fixed it. I went and put hex bags in the walls on every floor, and it's been quiet ever since. But the homeowner found this shoved in the back corner of the basement, I'm guessing that when the house was re-built the contracters found this and didn't throw it away." She handed the box to him.

Grandpa John flipped it open. It had photographs and papers in it.

"Oh, my God, I haven't seen this-" he said in a choked voice, "This was Mary's box to save special papers in," He rifled through and pulled out a certificate, "Look, this is Sammy's hospital certificate," the paper had two little black footprints on it, "She hadn't gotten around to making his baby book yet," he chuckled and looked at Uncle Sam, "Everyone in the hospital said you had the longest fingers and toes of any baby they'd ever seen."

"Even back then he was a moose," Daddy quipped, and Uncel Sam smacked Daddy's arm.

"Well, if you don't mind, I'd like to take Charlie and talk some more, and do some work with her while y'all go through that," Missouri said, "Charlie, is that all right with you, sweetie?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

Daddy squeezed my shoulder and smiled at me. "We'll be right here."

I followed Missouri back to the living room. There were a couple of fresh-cut asters on the coffee table, and she lit the smudge stick and smudged us both again like she had yesterday. She said it was good to use before I did any sort of work with my abilities.

Missouri sat down next to me. We did some deep breathing- inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth- that she said were "cleansing breaths".

She asked me more questions about times that I had seen things when I had touched people, and then she asked about what had been happening recently. I talked and talked, telling her about everything. Missouri was easy to talk to, she gave me all her attention and she asked questions that showed she was really listening. When I cried, she rubbed my back or patted my arm. She told me that I was very strong for all of the things I had been through recently.

Then she asked about my dreams. She said that Grandpa John had told her about the dreams I had when I was sick. I told her about all the different images and how upsetting they were.

"It was scary 'cause I had dreamed about Grandpa John having cuts on his face, and then when he came back, he had them just like in my dream. He said that sometimes when we dream, things might come true but then something might change to make it not happen."

"That's right," Missouri said.

"I don't get it."

"Well, think about it this way. Everyone has their own life, and when people's paths cross things can change. There are things that happen that you can't control. You might dream that you're gonna fail a test at school, and worry 'bout it, but the when you go to school the next day, you find out that the test is postponed because the teacher got sick. You couldn't control what happened to the teacher, just your own life. So things that you dream can change in an instant. Just because you dreamed something one way doesn't mean that that's the way it's going to happen."

"Grandpa John said that you might dream that you're going to the park the next day, but then a sudden rainstorm happens, so that changes what you had planned."

She nodded, "That's another good explanation for it. Do you get it now?"

I nodded, feeling relieved. Then I shifted on the sofa. "I had another dream about a witch, after, uh-" I felt myself blushing. For some reason I felt embarrassed.

"What is it, child?" Missouri asked gently.

"Well, I uh, I was looking for my toothbrush in Uncle Sam's bag and there was a knife, and I picked it up to move it and Daddy thought I was playing with it, and he—he spanked me really hard," I lowered my head, feeling guilty.

"Oh, child," she said.

"He, uh, said he was sorry and all, and the next day everyone was really mad at him."

"He's so worried for you, honey, you're his baby girl and he doesn't want anything bad to happen to you. He over-reacted, but he knew he did you wrong."

I nodded. "I had a dream, that night, about going to a house with a lady who was a witch. Mommy was with her and said Daddy wasn't good at being a daddy and I had to make a spell to bring her back. The lady in the dream who said she was a witch told me to go in Daddy's trunk and to look for a special book called a grimmer. A grim- oire," I tried to pronounce it correctly.

Missouri got very still. "Tell me more about this, child, everything you can remember."

I told her everything I could remember about the dream, what the lady and the house had looked like, and exactly what Mommy had said to me about Daddy being an unsuitable guardian and not equipped to be a father. I told her how Daddy and Uncle Sam had been investigating a witch at the time.

"All right, I need to do something," she said. She rubbed her palms together. "I'd like permission to go into your mind, if I may. I'd like to check something out."

I nodded.

"All right, you think about that dream you had, and I'm gonna put my hands on your head for focus."

She reached out and put a hand on either side of my head. "Close your eyes now," she murmured.

I thought about the dream, and then I started to think about when I had done the spell and how I had gotten into trouble.

After a couple of minutes, Missouri took her hands away from my head and sat up straight, looking at me. "Oh, honey, you tried to do the spell?" she asked.

I nodded, feeling myself blush again. "I-I didn't know how—how dangerous it really was."

"I wish you had talked to someone about how you were feelin' about everything, that whole situation could have been avoided if you'd just talked, but then, Winchesters aren't known for talkin' 'bout their emotions," she shook her head, "You learned you lesson, though, didn't you?"

I felt my face get even hotter, and I looked down at my lap. "Yeah, I got in a lot of trouble," I whispered. That had been one of the worst spankings I had ever gotten from Daddy, and I never wanted to go through that again.

She cupped my face and smiled. "You're such a sweetheart and you've got such a good spirit, I can't imagine punishing you, but I have to say in that case I think your Daddy did the right thing. That was a very unsafe thing you did, and he needed to make sure you knew it."

I blushed harder. "I—I know," I agreed.

"But you're a smart girl, and a good girl, and I know you'll never do something like that again."

I shook my head. "Uh-uh."

Uncle Sam came out to the hallway and glanced in at us. "Just going out to the car," he said.

"Now, we're going to practice blockin' other's energies," Missouri said briskly, "You need to think of an image that you can call up right quick, so that you can put it in your mind and keep it there."

"Can it be the flower?" I asked.

She nodded. "That's fine. So what you want to do, is keep that in your mind when you're about ready to touch someone, if you know it's going to happen."

"Missouri, how come sometimes I see something when I touch someone and sometimes I don't?" I asked.

"Well, this is what happens. It all depends on focus and concentration, not just yours, but the other person's, see? Think about what happens when you meet someone- the both of you are focused on shakin' hands and being pleasant and learning about the other person. So you're both sending and receiving energy. Then when you touch it's like the energy gets sent back and forth. On the other hand, when you take your daddy's hand when you're crossing the street, you're concentrating on crossing the street, not on him, so you don't get anything from him. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," I said, " 'Cause I don't ever see things when I hold hands with Daddy or Uncle Sam like that."

"And at the same time, they're concentrating on something else, too, not sending their energy out, so they aren't gonna be sending you anything to see."

"Right!" I agreed, "I wondered why I didn't see something every time, I thought maybe it was because something was wrong with me."

She chuckled. "No, honey, don't ever think that. Everyone's abilities are different and unique to themselves, and you can't ever judge yourself by anyone else. That's the beauty of these gifts, they're as different as each of us on this earth, and that's to be celebrated," she turned to me, "So, I want you to hold that picture of the flower in your mind now, and you try to keep it there."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, imagining the aster. She took my hand, and then I saw the butterfly bush out back.

I opened my eyes and dropped her hand.

"All right, try again, honey," she said.

I took another deep breath, and held her hand. This time I saw a big pot on her stove.

"Don't get upset now, you're learning," she said. We took a couple of cleansing breaths together. I gritted my teeth when I closed my eyes, and when I took her hand I felt her move back.

"Ooh, child, not so hard!" she dropped my hand and chuckled. I opened my eyes and she was rubbing her forehead. "You blocked me all right, you sent me that image loud and clear that time!"

"I did? I blocked you?"

She nodded, "You did, sweetie, great job. Let's keep on."

We practiced a couple more times, and each time I was successful at blocking her. I was able to keep the image of the flower in my head the while time.

"All right, now we do a test. And after that I think it's time for a break. Come with me," she said. I followed her back into the other room.

Daddy and Uncle Sam were sitting on either side of Grandpa John on a sofa. I walked over and sat next to Daddy.

"I need one of you take her hand, and send her an image. Dean, think of something." Missouri instructed.

Daddy took my hand, and she said, "Close your eyes, both of you, and Dean, you think hard on that image."

After a moment, I opened my eyes.

"Well?" Missouri asked.

"I just saw the flower," I said.

"What were you thinking about?" Missouri looked at Daddy.

"Uh, the tool kit in the trunk of the car," Daddy replied sheepishly.

"No, that's good, that's not something she'd think of normally," Missouri said, "and you blocked it! Wonderful!" She looked at all of us, "I'm gonna go heat up the food now."

"Look, Missouri," Grandpa John stood up and walked over to her, handing her two photographs.

"Oh, would you look at that," she said, shaking her head. She looked at me. "This lil' girl is the spittin' image of her."

"What is it?" I asked.

Grandpa John showed me. One of the photos was my school photo from kindergarten- my hair had been white blonde back then and past my shoulders, pinned back with little barrettes. The other photo was a black and white photo of a little girl with white blonde hair, wearing a little blouse with a curved collar, and her hair was also pinned back with little bows. Our hair was styled almost exactly the same and we had the same smile, and our heads were even tilted the same way.

"That's Mary in First Grade, I think," he told me.

"Wow," I said. I looked at him. "Where- where did you get my picture?"

"I brought some in, I wanted to compare," Uncle Sam said. He was holding one of my photo albums. I noticed a photo of my mommy holding me when I was a baby, and I started to cry.

"Why'd you have to bring that in?" I asked, turning away and putting my hands up to my face.

"Oh, sweetie, it's all right," Missouri said, "It's All Soul's Day, you can honor your mama and talk about her or cry about her if you want."

Daddy came over to me and picked me up. "It's all right, baby, go ahead and cry," he said gently.

A longing swept over me, and I started crying harder. "I—miss- her!" I heaved out, "Why'd- she—have—to-die?"

Daddy hugged me tightly. "I know, baby, I know," he said, and there were tears in his voice. He walked over and sat down on the sofa next to Grandpa John, and held me while I cried. It felt like I cried for a long time.

"I know we don't talk about your mom at all, I just wasn't sure if you were ready to," Daddy said gently, "I know you have a lot of emotions about everything that happened, and I worry that I'm not doing the right thing by not talking about it. Do you want to talk to someone about what happened?"

"What do you mean?" I sniffled and looked at him, "Who would I talk to?"

"A therapist," Daddy said, "A doctor who helps you talk about things that happened and feelings and- stuff like that."

"No, I don't want to talk to a stranger," I said.

"Well, honey, you can keep talkin' to me if you want, all right?" Missouri said, and smiled, "I'll put some coffee on while I'm heating up the food," She left the room.

Daddy gave me a bandana from his pocket and I wiped my tears off of my face. Then Grandpa John showed me some of the photos from the box. Some of them had burnt edges and some were folded and slightly torn.

There was a photo of Grandpa John dressed in a green outfit, wearing a hat, and Mary wearing a blue dress, and they were standing in front of Baby. There was another photo of them in a yard, with a little boy and a baby, and a big tree in the background.

"That's the front yard of the house where we- lived," Grandpa John told me, "Dean loved to try and climb that tree. Mary always panicked and worried that he'd fall and break something. I'd take him out there and lift him up into the lowest branches and let him climb around a little," he chuckled and shook his head, looking at Daddy, "One time you got kinda high up, and it took a while to coax you back down. Mary came out and saw what I was doing and boy, she got mad at me, gave me one of the worst tongue- lashings she ever gave me," he smiled ruefully, "I slept on the sofa for a couple of nights after that."

"She yelled at you and made you sleep on the sofa?" Daddy looked back at him, "You always made it seem like your marriage was perfect."

"Well, we had our times," Grandpa John said, "She could be—somewhat overprotective when it came to you boys, was really worried about you getting hurt and didn't want any rough-housing at first. I had to convince her that little boys actually benefit from rough-housing and physical play. She'd get pretty stern with me about it."

Missouri came to the door. "Let's eat, y'all," she motioned to us. We followed her into the kitchen, and she served the jambalaya and the red beans and rice. She had a plate of sausage she said was called kielbasa that could be mixed in with either dish. I tried some and it wasn't spicy, so I added some to my bowl of red beans and rice.

"Daddy, you need to learn how to make this, it's good," I told him.

"Well, I'll give y'all my recipe, but you have to hold on to it, it's been passed down in my family through the generations," Missouri said. She placed mugs of coffee on the table and a small pitcher of milk and a sugar bowl.

Then she sat down and said, "John, I know you had asked about the possibility of someone messin' with Charlie's mind, and I can tell you that that did happen. That witch that y'all were investigating- she was able to send herself into Charlie's dream and give her the ideas about finding the grimoire and doing that spell. And Charlie's aunt was in on it, she visited that witch and paid her off."

"Son of a bitch, I knew it!" Daddy muttered.

"Is there anything we can do to protect Charlie from something like this happening again?" Grandpa John asked.

"Yes, I can give y'all some prayers of protection, and there's some other things I can do too."

Uncle Sam took a drink of his coffee. "Why are Charlie's abilities becoming stronger?"

"Well, she's in the best health she's ever been in, and physically she's strong now too. She's like an engine running at peak performance. Also sometimes when you go through a trauma, such as Charlie went through with the changeling, it can open up the doors in your mind to make your abilities more powerful. So right now she's got a lot goin' for her," Missouri smiled at me, "and she's doing so well with everything we're doing. How are you feelin', honey?"

"I'm kinda tired," I said.

"Would you like to go lay down for a while? I've got some things I want to talk to your family about."

"O-okay," I said, feeling a little uncertain.

"Are you finished eating, or do you want more?"

"I'm done," I said. She stood up and I took my bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out.

Daddy reached for me as I walked by the table and pulled me into a hug. "Have a good nap," he said.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John hugged me too, and Grandpa John ruffled my hair as he let me go.

I followed Missouri upstairs to a small bedroom with dark wood furniture in it. The bed had a thick quilt on it and big fluffy pillows.

"Those men sure do love you a lot, I'm so glad ya'll found each other," she said, "You've needed a lot of love, and they needed someone to give all the love they've been hiding inside." She pulled the quilt down and patted the pillows. I took my shoes off and climbed into the bed, and she tucked me in, and then walked over to the window and pulled the blind down.

"You rest as long as you need, and then we'll see how you feel about doing some more work later, all righty?"

"M'kay," I murmured, feeling sleepy. I was curious and wanted to look around at the stuff in the room, but my eyes were heavy and I couldn't stay awake.


	57. Chapter 57

"Charlie, wake up," Daddy's voice said. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing it, and opened my eyes.

I rolled over and sat up, yawning.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

I shrugged, and he chuckled. "You look kinda out of it."

I reached for his hands, and pulled on them. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and I crawled into his lap and snuggled into his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Just wanted a hug," I murmured.

"I can do that," he said, and put his arms around me. We sat together for a couple of minutes, and then he patted my back.

"We should go downstairs, dinner's almost ready."

I got off of his lap and followed him down to the kitchen. Missouri was at the stove, and Uncle Sam was setting the table. Grandpa John was sitting in front of a cutting board and adding sliced cucumbers to a bowl of salad.

"Did you have a good rest, sweetie?" Missouri asked.

"Yeah," I yawned. I sat down at the table and Grandpa John reached over and patted my back, smiling at me.

Missouri had made Spaghetti Bolognese, which was a type of meat sauce, with salad and thick slices of Italian bread.

"Tomorrow we'll practice you blocking more and I'll also show you how to put up a shield of sorts, all right?" Missouri looked at me, "I don't think we should start anything new tonight."

"Okay," I agreed.

Daddy's phone rang and he pulled it out and looked at it. "It's Lisa," he told us, "Hey, Lis, how's it going? Oh? Okay, hold on," he pulled the phone away from his ear and said to us, "Ben has something he wants to tell us."

He pressed a button. "Okay, you're on speakerphone," he said.

"Dean?" Ben asked, "Hey! Is Charlie there?"

"Hi Ben!" I said, "How's it going?"

"Hi Charlie!" Ben sounded excited, "I wanted to tell everyone that my team won! We had the baseball tournament yesterday and today and we won first place! Just like you said, Charlie!"

"Wow, that's great!" Daddy said. Everyone else joined in saying congratulations.

"Can you try and see me winning the lottery now so we have lots of money?" Ben asked, and everyone laughed.

"I don't think it works that way, Ben," Daddy said.

"When are you guys coming back?" Ben asked.

"In another couple of days, probably," Daddy told him, "We'll see how things are going."

"I miss you guys!" Ben said.

"I miss you too!" I said, feeling my eyes get tears in them. I hadn't thought about it but I did miss him and Lisa.

"Miss you too, buddy," Daddy said, "Let me talk to your mom, okay?" he got up from the table and left the room.

"That's Dean's son?" Missouri asked.

"Yeah, look," Uncle Sam pulled his phone out and pressed a button, then scrolled through and showed her something.

"Oh my goodness, he's Dean's mini-me!" she said, laughing.

"What?" I asked.

Uncle Sam showed me the phone. He had pulled up a photo of Ben and me at the water park, with our hair wet and slicked back. I remembered Daddy taking some pictures with his phone every once in a while.

"I didn't know he sent you photos," I said.

"He sent them to both of us," Grandpa John said, "He wanted us to see how cute you looked."

Uncle Sam scrolled through some more photos and showed them to Missouri. "Oh, that swimsuit is adorable, Charlie," she said.

I felt myself blushing. "Thanks."

Daddy came back into the room pressing buttons on his phone. "Lisa sent a photo of Ben with his trophy and medal- here it is," he showed us the photo. Ben was grinning from ear to ear, holding up a big gold trophy and a medal on a thick ribbon.

"So you saw him winning this?" Missouri asked me.

"Just that he had the trophy and medal," I said, "and I tried to keep it in but I blurted it out. He was kinda feeling bad and he got upset with me."

"Well, that's another thing we can work on, keeping the knowledge inside," she said, "I know that's half the battle, when what you've seen wants to make its way outta your mouth. Sometimes the truth just has to be told, but a lot of the time you can keep it in."

"Okay," I felt relieved, "That's what upset me the most is when it just comes out and I can't stop it and then people get upset."

"I understand, honey," she reached over and patted my hand, "Tomorrow we can work on that."

"I got a call from Bobby, he needs my help with something, so I'm going to go back to the motel after we eat," Grandpa John said.

"And how is Mr. Singer?" Missouri asked, "You tell him he better stop and see me the next time he comes through this way!"

"He's doing well, keeping busy," Grandpa John told her with a grin.

"I don't think I want to do any more work tonight, Missouri, I'm still kinda tired," I said.

"That's fine, sweetie. We got all the time in the world."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Hold my hand, Charlie, there's a lot of people here," Uncle Sam said, reaching for me, "This is really nice, I'm glad Missouri told us about it."

"Dad told me to get some fresh vegetables to bring to her," Daddy said.

We were at an open- air farmer's market in the little town near where Missouri lived. There were stalls upon stalls of all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruit, stalls with baked goods and jars of home-made jellies and preserves. There were stalls with herbs and flowers for sale, and one stall had a big freezer with different kinds of meat for sale like venison and bison.

"Bison? What's that?" I pointed.

"Similar to buffalo, it's supposed to be a lot less fatty," Uncle Sam explained,

"What's venison?" I asked.

"Deer," Daddy said.

"You mean like Bambi?" I was horrified.

"More like Bambi's parents," Daddy told me.

I stared up at him, hoping he was joking. I was never eating venison, ever!

"Hey, look at this," Uncle Sam said.

We stopped at a stall with lots of different types of lettuce. Uncle Sam began to talk to the woman behind the table. He dropped my hand and said, "Stay right here, Charlie."

Daddy had drifted over to look at the next stall.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and looked around.

I saw the tall man again- the man I had seen on the playground, with dark hair, and he was wearing the same tan rain coat. He was standing across the aisle, two stalls away. The people walking past him didn't even seem to notice him. How could he be at the park near our hotel, near Lisa's, and also be here, in this farmer's market, which was a few states away? It must not be the same person. It couldn't be. I turned and started to walk across the stall towards him, wanting to look at him up close.

Three teenagers wearing roller blades whizzed down the aisle, laughing and shrieking loudly and flailing their arms.

"Charlie, come here and try this lettuce, it tastes sweet," Uncle Sam called to me.

I turned and walked over next to him, and then looked back across the aisle. The man in the raincoat was gone. I figured it couldn't have been the same guy.

"Try this, it's called butter lettuce," Uncle Sam gave me part of a leaf.

I chewed it slowly. "It's...okay," I said.

Daddy ambled over to us.

Uncle Sam offered him some. "Dean? Want to try it?"

Daddy made a face. "You know me, Sam, don't do rabbit food."

Uncle Sam bought a couple different kinds of lettuce, and Daddy bought some peaches and apples as well as a bag of ears of corn. "Maybe I can convince her to make me some pies," he said with a grin.

"Come on in, y'all," Missouri said. Her house smelled like warm bread and also like something cooking. My stomach growled.

"I've got a pot roast goin' in the slow cooker, and I made some fresh bread this morning," she told us, "Sam, did your Daddy get ahold of you?"

"No ma'am," Sam said.

"He's over at the library, said he could use a hand. There's a spot in town where the cell service drops out, you were probably there when he tried to call you."

Uncle Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket and walked out of the room to call Grandpa John.

"I'll slice y'all up a piece of bread and then we can get started, Charlie, how's that?" Missouri asked.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Go wash your hands," Daddy said, "You were touching all those vegetables with dirt on them."

"Yes, Daddy," I said, and I went to the bathroom.

 

"Miss Lettie needs to have her seams tak'n in agin," I said, "She's lost more weight. An' she needs more coughin' cloths, she's usin' 'em up faster now."

I saw a thin woman, with her hair up in a big bun, and she wore a long fancy dress with puffy sleeves. Her face was very pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. She coughed hard, holding a handkerchief to her mouth, and when she took it away, there was bright red blood on the cloth and on her lips. I sewed the end of a row of tiny stitches on a handkerchief and snipped the thread with little scissors.

I saw a little girl standing on a wooden box in front of me, fidgeting, and I was kneeling down next to her, hemming her dress, feeling the pins in my mouth as I spoke to her, "Hol' still, chil', this'll get done quicker if you jus' be still." I held the scissors in my hand as I pushed the needle through the fabric.

Then I saw an African-American man laying face down on a bed, and he had cuts on his back that were streaming with blood, and I saw my hands stitching up a cut and snipping the ends with the little scissors.

"Big Luke got in 'nother fight," I said, "They gonna kill him one 'a these days."

I heard a tune in my head, a woman humming a melody, and I hummed it with her, and then I heard the words, and they came out of my mouth, "Now the river ends between two hills...Follow the drinking gourd... There's another river on the other side...Follow the drink-"

"CHILD!" Missouri's voice was loud. She had ahold of my wrists, and she pried the scissors out of my hands. Daddy and Uncle Sam and Missouri were all standing in front of me, looking at me.

We were in the small upstairs bedroom I had slept in yesterday. Before I had gone back downstairs I had noticed some objects on the windowsill- a small pair of scissors, a pin cushion shaped like a tomato, and a coiled measuring tape.

My head was swimming from everything that I had just seen. I couldn't process it all. I felt pressure inside my head, like there was a balloon inside my skull blowing up bigger than my head, and I put my hand up to my forehead and moaned.

"Charlie?" I heard Daddy say, "What's wrong? Charlie? Why does she look like that?"

And then the world went gray...

My head was resting on cloth and I could feel someone stroking my hair, rhythmically, over and over. I moved my head slightly, and pain shot through my skull.

I opened my eyes and moved again, looking up. I was laying on the sofa with my head in Daddy's lap.

He looked down at me when I moved. "Oh, Charlie," he said with relief.

I started to sit up and then grabbed at my head, crying out. Every little movement made my head pound with a sharp pain.

"What is it?" Daddy asked, "What's wrong, baby?"

"Head...hurts," I whined, "When I move it."

"Sam!" Daddy called, "Tell Missouri she's awake and her head hurts!"

"Oww Daddy," I whimpered. His calling loudly was like feeling someone pound on my ears.

I closed my eyes, and heard footsteps coming into the room.

"She says her head hurts?" I heard Missouri say, "Honey, can you open your eyes and look at me?"

I opened my eyes again and winced. "Everything- everything hurts, when I open my eyes and move my head and when Daddy talked," I whispered.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were standing next to her.

"What does the pain feel like?" Missouri asked.

"It- like a sharp pain in the top of my head, but it's pressure inside like something's trying to pound its way out, and when I look around it's like something sharp behind my eyes."

"Sounds like a migraine," Grandpa John commented.

"Could be," Missouri glanced at him, "Some folk will get migraines with the advent of new abilities or when they get overloaded."

"Which do you think it is for her?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Well, we can't be too sure, I want to hear what she experienced. We don't know if she's always had that ability to channel in there, or if this is new."

"Channel? What's that?" I asked.

They all glanced at each other. "We'll talk about it later, child," Missouri said to me, "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"No," I said, turning my head a little, and then wincing again.

"I'll go get the ibuprofen, I think there's some in the med kit in the car," Uncle Sam said.

"I want you to drink some water so you don't get dehydrated," Grandpa John said, "Making sure you're hydrated during a headache is important."  
He and Missouri left the room, and I looked up at Daddy.

"You scared us, Charlie, one minute you went to the bathroom and the next minute you were gone, and then we went upstairs, and you were in the bedroom- and-" he looked uncomfortable.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head. "You started to talk, like you had when you touched that glove. And then I noticed you were holding a little pair of scissors. Do you remember going upstairs?"

I shook my head, and then cried out. Everyone came into the room at the same time.

"Dean, don't you be talkin' to her about what happened yet," Missouri scolded, "Don't make her headache worse."

"Here," Uncle Sam poured out some medicine for me. I swallowed it and then took the glass of ice water that Grandpa John handed me. I drank a couple of swallows and then handed it to him.

"You want to go upstairs and rest?" Missouri asked.

I felt scared for some reason. "No, I want to stay here with Daddy," I said, and I started to cry.

"What's the matter?" Daddy asked, "Why are you crying?"

"I don't want to leave you," I said, "Ow!" I whimpered, since the crying made my head throb.

"No one's leaving anyone, I'll stay right here with you," Daddy reassured me, "Okay?"

I sniffled. "Okay."

"Close your eyes, let's see if the medicine will help you," Daddy said.

Missouri brought in a cool washcloth to cover my eyes with and block out the light. Daddy rubbed my forehead and scalp and that made me feel a little bit better. My head still hurt a lot, and any time I moved, it was like I was getting stabbed through the skull. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep, because it hurt so bad, but then I woke up in a different position.

I was sitting propped up on Grandpa John's lap, and it was mostly dark in the living room. I could hear talking and clinking of dishes coming from the kitchen.

I shifted and whimpered a little. Grandpa John looked down at me.

"Hey, darlin', how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Hurts," I mumbled.

"The same as before, or not as bad?"

I tried to sit up. "Uh, not as- not as bad."

"You want to try to eat?"

"Uhh, no," I said.

"I ate first, so that I could be in here with you while your Dad eats," he told me. He pulled out his phone and texted, and then I heard a chair scrape back.

Daddy came over to us. "Hey, baby girl, how are you?" he asked.

"Still hurts," I said.

"She said not as bad," Grandpa John reported.

Missouri came in, wiping her hands on a dish towel. "I'm gonna suggest you take her back to the motel," she said, "and call me in the morning to let me know how she is. We can't do any work with her head feelin' like this. Now, if she starts talkin' about what she experienced I want you to record it for me, all right? No relying on your memory. I'll go and pack up some food to take in case she gets hungry later."

She left the room. Daddy leaned down and picked me up off of Grandpa John's lap.

Uncle Sam drive us back to the motel while Daddy sat in the back seat with me. When we got there Uncle Sam gave me more medicine and Daddy put me right to bed. I fell asleep quickly this time.


	58. Chapter 58

"Tell us what you saw, child," Missouri said. We were in her living room, and everyone was watching me.

I felt uncomfortable with all of their eyes on me and squirmed a little bit. "Well, uh, first, I saw a skinny lady with a fancy blouse and a long skirt, she had her hair up in a big bun, she looked—like she was sick, pale with dark circles under her eyes. She had a handkerchief that she'd cough into, and after she coughed, there would be blood on her mouth and the handkerchief. She needed lots of- 'coughing cloths'. I looked down and saw my hands sewing little stitches on the edge of a handkerchief. Who- who was that?"

"I'll answer all your questions when you're done," she said, "What else did you see?"

"Then I was seeing a little girl standing on a wooden box, and she was wearing a long dress, and I was kneeling down next to her, sewing the edge of the dress, and I could feel-" I gestured to my mouth, "I had pins in my mouth. The girl was being all fidgety and I told her to hold still. Then I snipped the end with the scissors."

I looked at Daddy and Uncle Sam, who were both looking at me with serious looks. "Then it- the scene switched again, and there was- there was a man laying on his tummy on a bed and he had little cuts all over his back, and they were bleeding, and I was stitching the cuts up. His name was Big Luke and he was trying to defend people," I said.

Missouri nodded. "Yes, child," she said quietly.

"Then I heard that song, first the tune, and then the words, and they just came out of my mouth," I said, "I never heard it before in my life," I took a deep breath, "What was all that?"

Missouri leaned forward slightly, "Well, those scissors you had ahold of were my great-grandmother's, Zelina Berangere, she was known as Madame Z. Her sewing supplies were passed down through the generations, to me. She was a slave for a long while, owned by a prominent family in New Orleans. She was a lady's maid to the woman of the house, Leticia Robichaud, Miss Lettie. She also did all the sewing for the family. Miss Lettie developing consumption, and they hid it for as long as they could, but she passed eventually."

"What's consumption?" I asked.

"A sickness that involves the lungs, and you end up coughing up blood. That's why she needed those coughin' cloths. They didn't have antibiotics back then, so you just had to hope and pray that things got better. When Miss Lettie passed, things went from bad to worse. The master of the house couldn't handle it and—well, he drank all his cares away. He let his underlings take over runnin' things and it got awful for the slaves. Big Luke was one of the strongest workers, and he tried to protect the others, 'specially the womenfolk and children."

"What- what happened to him?" I asked.

She got a funny look on her face. "I don't rightly know," she said.

She looked at Daddy and then at Grandpa John. "Well, I think that Charlie was channeling," she told them, "My GranGran is one of my spirit guides, and everything that Charlie told us is from her life, and that was her voice you heard comin' out of Charlie's mouth yesterday. She lived to be a hundred, and I knew her when I was a little girl. That song? That was her favorite and she used to sing it to me at bedtime."

"I'll be damned," Daddy said softly, "Well, what do we do- about it?"

"Do? Ain't nothing you can 'do'," Missouri said with a scoff, "Other than teach Charlie control, and try to keep her away from old objects. It's gonna happen no matter what. Hopefully she can learn how to control it enough that someday she can use it to help others."

"Well that's not going to happen," Daddy said in a low voice, "Charlie 's going to have a normal life and go to college and all of that."

"Dean, you may want that, but Charlie already showed you she's anything but normal," Missouri said, sitting up straight, "and it's her choice, isn't it?"

"No," Daddy said in a strong voice, and Missouri drew back like she was offended.

"Missouri, I don't want to lose her," Daddy said in that same hard voice, "and I'm not going to allow her to do anything that may put her in danger."

"Well, Dean, be that as it may, sometimes you aren't going to be able to control that," she said flatly, "Charlie's abilities aren't going to do what you say, and you're going to have to live with that. It is out of your hands."

"I know, but-"

"Dean, leave it," Grandpa John said.

Daddy sighed angrily.

"Let's concentrate on the here and now," Uncle Sam said gently, "What can we do to ensure that Charlie doesn't have any more- episodes like that?"

"Well, she and I can keep working on control," Missouri said, "and part of it is just her learning how to handle things. Her abilities are going to grow and change too, they may fluctuate sometimes as she gets older."

"What do you mean?" Daddy asked.

"With the advent of puberty, some abilities may go a little...haywire."

"Oh great, so we'll have to deal with hormones as well as wonky abilities?" Daddy shook his head.

"What do you mean? What's hormones?" I asked.

Everyone looked at each other nervously. Missouri held her hands up. "She's your daughter, this is on you, Dean Winchester," she said with a grin.

"It's when, you, uh, become a teenager," Uncle Sam said, "and your body goes through...changes."

"Oh, you mean when you grow boobs and get your period and all that? I know all about that!" I shook my head at them, "Mommy already told me all about that a long time ago!"

Daddy and Uncle Sam blushed and shifted in their seats, and Missouri and Grandpa John laughed loudly for a few minutes.

"Oh, child, you are a caution," Missouri shook her head and wiped her eyes. She stood up. "Let's take a break now, and I'll get something figured out for lunch," she said.

"Can I go out back and swing?" I asked.

"Sure, honey," Missouri smiled at me. "After lunch we can do some work, all right?"

"Okay," I agreed, and went into her back yard. I wandered around looking at the flowers for a while, and then I sat on the swing.

"Charlie," I heard Uncle Sam calling me, "Come here."

I opened my eyes. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were on the other side of the fence, in the front yard. I got off the swing and ran up to them.

"We're going to go into town and get pizzas for lunch," Uncle Sam told me, "do you want to come with?"

"No, I'll stay here," I told him.

He and Grandpa John leaned down and kissed me good-bye, and said they'd be back soon. I walked back over to the swing and got on, swinging high into the air for a while. I started to feel thirsty, so I walked back to the house and went into the kitchen to ask for a drink. I could hear Daddy talking in the living room.

"How am I supposed to deal with this?" Daddy asked.

"Well, it ain't you dealin' with it, Dean, it's her. You just gotta be there supporting her," Missouri said.

"Yeah, but, I wanted her...I wanted things to be different for her."

"What, did you think that you'd bring her to me and I'd show her how to make it all go away, or control it completely so that nothing ever happened again? That ain't how it works. And you can't expect her to be in control all the time."

"Well, I know that-"

"Do you? You're gonna have to deal with this, you've got to find a balance between having her have a 'normal childhood' and also being the daughter of a hunter, and a child who has psychic abilites. And striking that balance is going to be hard for all 'a you sometimes, you're all gonna have to step it up with her. I know you don't want her in this life but she's already there. You can protect her some but you can't stop things from happening with her abilities."

Daddy sighed heavily. "I just don't- when she was- gone, it was one of the worst things I'd ever gone through, and I never want to go through that again. I want to keep her safe as much as I can."

"I know, honey, all parents want that for their children. But there are some things in this equation that are outta your hands, and you gotta let go of the illusion that you're in control of everything."

"It's not an illusion," Daddy said stubbornly.

Missouri huffed a laugh, "The great Dean Winchester is not as in control of things as he thinks," she chuckled, "and the sooner he realizes that the easier it'll be for him."

I walked into the living room. "Can I have some water, please?" I asked.

"Sure, sweetie," Missouri said. She came into the kitchen and got me a glass of ice water.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came in with the pizzas, and we sat down in the kitchen to eat. Then Grandpa John got a phone call. He walked into the living room and was in there for a while.

"Boys," he stood at the doorway and jerked his head, and Daddy and Uncle Sam got up and walked into the living room to talk to him.

When they came back in, Grandpa John said, "We're going to go back to the motel, I got a call from Singer, and we need to do some research."

"I'll come back to pick you up in a while, Charlie, if that's okay," Daddy said to me. "We're going to be at the library."

"Okay, Daddy." I agreed.

Missouri stodd up and walked over to Grandpa John. "Is it-" she said quietly.

He nodded. "Possibly. We'll figure it out."

Missouri sighed and clasped her hands together. "I'll pray for you. Be safe."

They hugged and kissed me and then left.

After we ate, we went into the living room.

We practiced me blocking Missouri, and then she asked me about the day before.

"What did you feel, what made you want to go upstairs and pick up the scissors?" she asked.

"I just felt—pulled to them, like my feet were moving by themselves. That's how I felt with the glove too."

She nodded. "With some old objects, they have a lot of stored energy in them. Something that's been wore a lot, like a ring, or used a lot, like the scissors, will have the owner's energies all over them, and that's what you're getting. You're sensitive to that energy field. So what you need to do is imagine that there's a wall up between you and the object. When you get good at that you can change it to imagine that you got gloves on your hands and that'll help too. But for now, a wall is the best thing to visualize."

She got up and walked over to the table in the corner, and brought back a couple of things.

"This shawl has been in my family for a while, see if you can block the energy," she placed the shawl on the sofa between us.

The shawl was heavy and soft, knitted with a cream-colored yarn. I picked it up and held it in my hands.

I saw a small kitchen, and felt like I was sitting down. A door opened and a little African-American girl with braids came into the room with a satchel. "Come an' see me, Lil' Miss," I heard.

Missouri pulled the shawl out of my hands. "What did you see?"

"I was sitting in the corner of a kitchen, and a little girl came in, she had a school bag in her hand," I looked up at Missouri, and I knew, "The shawl was your Grandma's, and that was you! She called you Lil' Miss!"

She smiled at me. "Yes, the shawl was my Grand-Mere's, and yes, that was her name for me. She lived with us for a long while."

She turned towards me on the sofa. "Now, imagine that there's a wall between us, and then when you tell me I'll give you the shawl again."

I tried to imagine a wall, made of red bricks, and then I touched the shawl. It didn't work, I kept getting images and feelings.

I started to get frustrated.

"All right, let's take a break," she said, getting up. She walked over to the desk in the corner and opened a drawer. Then she brought something over to me. It was a necklace with different colored round beads on it.

"This is a necklace I want you to wear," she said, "It has stones that are used to protection."

"Protection? From what?"

She sat down. "Well, when you're sensitive to energies and feelings, you may sometimes pick up things that are...not good. Unfortunately there are bad people out there and you may see them doing bad things or get a sense of how they are inside."

"When I was at PT there was a new worker there and I saw that her boyfriend was hitting her," I told Missouri, "It was really upsetting, and I couldn't get the feelings out of my head. The doctor had to give me medicine to help me calm down."

She put her hand on mine. "So you've already experienced that a little. Well, these stones will help you from feeling those influences too much, and keep you safe," she smiled at me.

The doorbell rang, and Missouri let Daddy in. He smiled at me, but he seemed distracted. "How are things going?" he asked.

"Well, I was going to ask Charlie how she was feeling," Missouri looked at me, "We did some good work earlier."

"I am kinda tired," I said, "Can we take a break?"

"I think that sounds good," she smiled, "How are things going, Dean?"

"Well, it's...what we thought, so Dad's...going to go help Bobby. It's not too far away, so hopefully it will be dealt with in a day or so."

I looked at Daddy and then at Missouri. It seemed like they were doing the same kind of 'talking without words' thing that Daddy and Uncle Sam did.

"What?" I asked, "Is it a ghost hunt?"

Daddy looked down at me. "No, Charlie, it's nothing you need to concern yourself about," he said.

"I've got some clients to see tonight, so you bring Charlie back tomorrow," Missouri said, "And call me if you need any help."

"All right, will do," Daddy took my hand. "Let's go, Charlie."

Instead of driving back to the motel, we drove into town, to the library.

"Why are we going here?" I asked.

"Dad and Sam are still here, and we're still working," Daddy said, "Come in, find some books, and sit down for a little bit."

Uncle Sam had his laptop on a table next to a computer that was in the corner, and Grandpa John was on the computer. They were looking at weather maps. Grandpa John had his journal out and was writing in it.

Daddy walked me over to the kids' section and hurried me through getting a couple of books to look at. Once I had picked a couple, I followed him back over to where Uncle Sam was sitting. Daddy had a stack of newspapers he was looking through.

"Can I help you look?" I leaned on his arm, "What are you doing?"

"No, Charlie, you can't," he said abruptly, "Sit down and read. We've got to concentrate on this right now."

I sighed heavily and sat down, opening one of the books. I hoped that we weren't going to be here for a long time.


	59. Chapter 59

"Daddy, I'm bored," I leaned on his arm, "What're you doing?"

It seemed like we had been at the library for hours. I had read almost all of a Nancy Drew book, and then I got tired of reading about her. I didn't care who stole the pearl necklace from the museum, I just wanted to go play on a playground or go get something to eat!

Daddy glanced at me. "We'll be done soon," he said, "Just a little bit longer, okay?"

I folded my arms. "Nooo," I whined, "It's not okay! I'm hungry! I'm tired of sitting here! I'm boooored!"

"Charlie," Daddy said sternly, "cool it."

I sighed and scuffed my feet on the ground.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came over to us. Grandpa John had gone to print something out from the computers.

"I've got the tables printed out, we can take them back and look at them in the room," he said.

"Can we eat dinner? I'm hungry," I said.

"Yeah, we can order a pizza when we get to the hotel," Daddy said.

"Can't we go out? I'm tired of going back to the room every night," I complained.

"Charlie, we're working on something important," Daddy told me, "We need to keep working on it." He stood up and gathered the pad and pen he'd been using. Uncle Sam took them and put them in his laptop bag.

"What is it?" I asked, standing up.

"You don't need to worry about that," Daddy said.

"I hate when you say that," I grumbled as we walked to the car. It wasn't fair that they never talked to me about the stuff that they were doing!

I got an idea. As we stepped off the curb, I took Daddy's hand, and then I tried to see, on purpose, what was in Daddy's mind. It felt like I was pushing something with my head.

I saw a man, sitting in a chair, with ropes tied around him, and someone threw water on him, which smoked and sizzled when it landed on his skin. He raised his head and growled, showing his teeth, and his eyes were completely black.

I pulled my hand out of Daddy's with a gasp. He glanced down at me. "What?" he asked.

"N-nothing," I said, as I climbed into the back of the car. Then I realized- the man had black empty eyes, just like the people I had used to see in my dreams when I was a kid, and Mary would come to me! Did that mean that there were people with no eyes out there? Were they bad people? Why was one tied to a chair, and why did water get all steamy when it hit him?

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John went into their room, and Daddy opened the door so we could go into our room.

"Daddy," I said hesitantly, "who are the people with black eyes?"

He stopped walking across the room and turned to me. "What do you mean?" he demanded, "How do you know about them? Did you see something?" He came over to me quickly.

"Well, I-" I squirmed, looking down at my feet, "when I held your hand I looked and saw-"

Daddy raked his hand through his hair. "Dammit," he said under his breath. "Charlie, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking-" he stopped, "Wait, did you say you looked? You looked and saw? What does that mean?"

I felt my face get red. "I, uhh..." I toed the floor in front of me, and then he put his finger under my chin and made me raise my head to look at his face.

"What- do- you- mean?" he asked firmly.

"I, uh, I was curious, I wanted to know...I get annoyed that you're always telling me not to worry about it or that it's nothing I need to think about!" I burst out, "It's not fair!"

"No, little girl, this has nothing to do with fair, there are things that are for grown-ups only, and hunting is one of those things. You actually were able to look in my mind and see something?" he asked angrily.

I gulped, and then nodded.

"I cannot believe this!" he snapped, and he reached out and took my wrist, leading me over to the bed. He sat down on the end and took my arms, holding me in the V of his legs.

"You do NOT look in people's minds for information, Charlie! That's like eavesdropping on someone's conversation! That- that's worse than eavesdropping! I don't ever want to hear of you doing that ever again, little girl!" he was frowning angrily at me, and he started to pull me towards him like he was going to turn me over his knee.

"Daddy, I'm sorry!" I stepped backwards, trying to squirm out of his grasp, "I didn't mean-"

"Don't tell me you didn't mean to, you gonna start lying now?" he snapped, pulling me forward.

In one quick movement I was over his knees, and then his hand fell for the first time and I yelped. He laid several stinging swats down on my bottom and I started to cry.

"You need to understand something, little girl," he said in a hard voice, "You are not an adult, you don't need to know everything that adults are doing."

He stopped spanking me, resting his hand on my back, and said, "I know that your relationship with your mother was different, you were friends and she shared everything with you, but that's not the way it is now. I am the adult and you are the child, and you don't need to be involved in every little thing. And you will not be involved in hunting or any aspect of that at all," he lifted his hand and began to spank me again. I began to squirm on his lap, trying to get away from his hard hand and whimpering.

"And I'm disappointed in you that you would try to go into my mind. You will not spy or eavesdrop on people at all. That is not the kind of little girl I want you to be! You will not do something like that again, am I clear?"

It hurt that he said he was disappointed in me, and I started to cry harder. "Yes, Daddy, I w-won't do that e-ever a-again!" I exclaimed, "I'm sorryyyyyy!"

He landed a couple of swats on the lowest part of my butt and then it was over and he was lifting me up to sit in his lap.

I clutched at his flannel and sobbed, "M'sorry, Daddy, I don't want you to be dis-disappointed with me."

He put his arms around me. "You do the right thing, and don't look into people's minds, and I won't be."

There was a knock on the door, and then Uncle Sam came into the room. "Pizza's on its way," he told us, "Everything okay?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Little Miss Charlie here decided to try and see if she could look into my mind, and she was successful." Daddy said.

"She was? Oh wow, that's- we need to tell Missouri."

"Oh, I'm going to, believe me." Daddy said, "I'm curious as to what she's going to say about it. In the meantime, Charlie knows that she's not to do that again, because it's like spying on someone, right?"

"Yes, Daddy," I sniffled.

"Go get changed into your pajamas, you're going to bed right after dinner," Daddy patted my back.

I slid off of his lap, feeling chastened. "Yes, Daddy," I said, and I went to get my pajamas out of my duffle.

Uncle Sam set his laptop up at the table, and Grandpa John came in with a stack of papers. They leaned over them, talking quietly.

Daddy shushed me when I tried to talk to him, and told me to find something to do, because he had to help them. I played my 3DS until the pizza got there, and they ate while they worked.

When I finished eating, I got up to throw my trash away and then walked over to Uncle Sam to say goodnight.

"Give him and extra hug, we're going to be leaving in the morning," Grandpa John said.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"We're going to look for something," Grandpa John said, "And hopefully we find it this time."

Uncle Sam leaned down and hugged me tightly, picking me up off the ground for a moment.

"Be careful, I'll miss you," I said.

He kissed the top of my head. "I'll miss you too, be good."

I walked over to hug Grandpa John. "Behave yourself, little one," he patted my bottom and kissed my forehead. Daddy walked over to my bed and tucked me in.

"I'm sorry I spied on you," I said quietly, "Are you still mad?"

He leaned down and hugged me. "No, sweetheart, I'm not."

"I love you, Daddy," I hugged him back.

"I love you too, baby," he kissed my cheek and pulled the covers up.

In the morning it was just me and Daddy for breakfast. After we ate, he took me over to Missouri's house. I was nervous that she was going to scold me too. Daddy told her he wanted to talk privately for a few minutes, and they went into the kitchen.

Missouri came back into the room and sat next to me on the sofa, looking at me seriously.

"Now, this is something I didn't think we were going to have to deal with yet, but your abilities are stronger than I originally thought. Your mama taught you to be a good person, right? To be kind, and not be a bully, and do the right thing?"

I nodded.

"Well, with your abilities, it goes both ways, Not only can you get information from touching people, you can go into their minds and look for things. But like your Daddy said, that's worse than eavesdropping. Can you tell me why?"

I looked down at my lap, feeling myself blush. "Because, uh, I'm spying on their private thoughts that are inside their heads."

"Right. And the person has no idea that you're doing that, and so they don't know to put up a defense. Just like you don't read someone's diary, or eavesdrop on a conversation, you don't go into people's minds to find things out. And there may be times when you're tempted to, like if you want to find out what grade you got on a test, or what your birthday present is, but you can't do that. Why not?"

"Because it's not the right thing to do," I said.

"Good," she nodded, "you make sure you keep doin' the right thing, and you don't use your abilities to get information from people."

"I won't," I agreed, "Missouri, who are the people with black eyes? That's what I saw yesterday, and I-I dreamed about them when I was little."

She sat very still for a long moment, and then looked at me again. "They're people with evil inside them, child, and that's all I'm gonna say. The less you know about it, the better."

"But why-"

She held her hand up. "No, you need to put it out of your mind, now. Let's do some more work on trying to build that wall."

I tried to imagine a wall in my head, but I still couldn't make it work. Every time I touched Missouri's shawl, I saw things. I started to get frustrated with myself.

"All right, take a deep breath," she said, "No use getting all upset."

"But I can't do it!" I gritted out, clenching my fists, "Why can't I do this?"

"Some skills are harder for people to master than others," she said, "You have to have patience with yourself. Take another deep breath."

I did, and imagined a wall again.

"Try this, maybe using a different object will help," Missouri handed me a small metal thimble. I held it in my hand, and then I felt an overwhelming sadness. I looked down and saw my hands sewing something, a long white cloth, and I saw tears drip down onto the fabric. Then I raised my eyes and saw a man laying on a table. His eyes were closed and the skin around his neck was all puffy and torn up. It was Big Luke, and I knew that he was dead.

I opened my eyes and burst into tears, throwing the thimble down on the coffee table. "Big Luke died!" I exclaimed, looking at Missouri, "Something was wrong with his neck! And I saw someone sewing a blanket and crying!"

Missouri pressed her lips together. "Oh, honey, I'm so sorry you had to see that," she pulled me to her and hugged me tightly.

"Wh-what happened?" I asked.

"Well, I told you that things didn't go well after the missus passed, right? Unfortunately, Big Luke got in the way one too many times, and they- they hanged him. What you saw was my GranGran sewing his burial shroud."

"You said you didn't know what happened to him!"

"I didn't want to share that with you, child, it's not something I like to think about. It was a very hard time for all my GranGran's folk."

Daddy came into the living room. "What's going on? Why is Charlie crying?" He had been in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"She saw something unhappy, when my GranGran was sewing a burial shroud for big Luke."

"Oh geez," Daddy said, coming over to us. He sat down next to me and I climbed onto his lap and threw my arms around him.

"She's having a time trying to put up a wall inside her mind, I think we're going to have to try a different technique," Missouri said, "However, today I want you to take her out. She's had enough now, and you need to take her out and do something fun, let her just be a kid."

"All right, what do you want to do, Charlie?" Daddy asked.

"I dunno," I sniffled.

"There's a zoo in the city, and an aquarium," she told us.

"How about the aquarium?" Daddy looked down at me, "Have you ever been to one?"

I shook my head.

"Let's go there then." Daddy patted my back. I got up, wiping my eyes. "We'll be back tomorrow," he told Missouri.

She hugged me again. "You try to enjoy yourself today, put all this out of your mind for now."

"Okay, Missouri," I hugged her back.

Daddy and I spent a long time at the Aquarium. There was a touchpool where you could touch some of the animals, like a horseshoe crab and a fish called a moon jelly. We watched a movie about coral reefs and then went through the exhibit and tried to find as many of the creatures they had mentioned in the movie as we could. There was a tropical rainforest exhibit too, and we walked through it and a butterfly landed on my arm. By the time we left, I was tired, and I fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.

In the morning, I woke up to Uncle Sam and Grandpa John coming into the room. I hopped out of bed and ran to them, and Uncle Sam swung me up in his arms.

"I didn't think you'd be back so soon!" I said happily, kissing his cheek.

"We got it," Grandpa John said with satisfaction.

Uncle Sam put me down on the floor and I went over to hug Grandpa John. He squeezed my shoulders and let me go.

"Well, let's see it," Daddy said.

Grandpa John put his duffle on the table and opened it up, pulling something out. It was a large piece of leather all wrapped up. He put it on the table and unwrapped it, and in the middle of it was an old-looking gun. It had a star in a circle on the wooden handle.

"That's it, huh?" Daddy said, "This is the gun that can kill anything?"

I couldn't control myself, I felt pulled to the gun, and even though I knew I wasn't supposed to be touching a weapon and I was going to be in big trouble, I felt myself reaching for it, and I picked it up, and I saw-

A man making bullets for the gun and dipping them in a bowl of water. He was dressed like someone from a cowboy movie, wearing a big cowboy hat and a vest. The cowboy-man walked into a room where a man was bent over a woman, and he yelled something, and then the man stood up. He had blood around his mouth and there was blood pouring down the woman's neck. The cowboy- man shot the gun and it went right into the other man's forehead, and he fell down onto the floor and then disintegrated. Then the scene changed and the cowboy-man was in a forest, and there was a growling and barking coming from nearby, and a big wolf-like creature jumped at him, and he shot it with the gun, and it died.

"CHARLIE!" Daddy yelled, yanking the gun out of my hands, "STOP!"

I looked up at him, and then I felt pain in my head like someone was stabbing me. I gasped, and grabbed my head.

"What's wrong?" Daddy asked, looking at me with concern.

"Hurts-" I moaned, as the pain worsened. It felt like there was a metal band around my brain, tightening painfully, and I began to see little flashes of light in my vision.

"Stars," I murmured, "seeing stars," and I felt dizzy suddenly. Daddy caught me as I started to fall, and picked me up. He carried me over to the bed, and laid me down.

"Get Missouri on the phone!" I heard him say, and then I got even dizzier, and everything went black.


	60. Chapter 60

I was laying down, and I felt something shift under me as I moved my head. I opened my eyes and it was like the light stabbed into my eyes, so I closed them with a whimper. I was laying on my bed, and my head was in Daddy's lap.

"Charlie?" he asked quietly, "You back with us?"

"My head hurts," I whispered.

"Sam," I heard Daddy call, and I whimpered again, because the noise made my head throb.

I heard footsteps, and Uncle Sam's voice. "-let you know, it looks like she's awake now. All right, bye." I heard a beep, and Uncle Sam sighed. "She said that Charlie may not be ready to process that much information and that's why she gets a headache, her- whatever sense it is that gets the impressions- isn't mature yet, if that makes sense?"

"Well what do we do about it?" Daddy asked.

"Don't know yet, she said she's going to talk to some people. Charlie, can you take some medicine?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Sit up a little," I felt Daddy helping me sit up, and I moaned slightly, because it made me dizzy.

I squinted my eyes open and Uncle Sam handed me a small cup of pink liquid. I drank it down and then he handed me a cup of water. I swallowed some and handed it back to him.

"Daddy what was that gun?" I asked, "I saw a cowboy shooting lots of things, there was a man sucking blood out of a woman's neck and he shot him, and then a big wolf-creature came after him in the woods and he shot it-" I felt a wave of dizziness come over me and then I was seeing more images, "The cowboy shot a woman who had big pieces of skin falling off from every where, and then he shot a thing that looked like a monster with gray skin and a circle mouth with lots of sharp teeth, and it exploded, and then there was a man with black eyes and he shot the man and his face changed-" I shuddered, and my head throbbed painfully, and I started to cry, and then I cried out, because crying made my head hurt worse.

"Shh, Charlie, let it go," Daddy said.

"I—I can't, it's in my head!" I wailed, "Why is there all that scary stuff out there? Are those things what you hunt?"

"Try to relax, Charlie," Uncle Sam said gently, "We'll talk about it later. You need to rest right now."

"Shh," Daddy rubbed my forehead, and then he started to card his hand through my hair. "Does this help at all?"

"My head still hurts, but I like what you're doing, it feels good," I murmured. He kept running his hands through my hair, and it relaxed me enough that I was able to go back to sleep.

My dreams were jumbled images- Big Luke laying on the table, and then he changed into my Mommy, and it was her laying there dead, except that she looked how she had looked when she had first started to lose her hair. Then I saw the vampire again, and I could see the bullet whizz through the air and go into its forehead. Then I was at the campsite with Mommy, and I followed her out of the tent, and a giant wolf-creature came running out of the woods and jumped at us, but a cowboy stepped in front of us and shot it. It fell down with a yelp, and the man turned to us- it was Daddy, not the cowboy that I had seen when I held the gun. Then I saw the woman with her skin falling off, but she turned into Aunt Michelle, and she grabbed my arms-

I woke up screaming.

"Charlie, wake up!" Daddy said urgently, "Wake up!" he gave me a litle shake. I opened my eyes and looked up at him, bursting into tears. He put his arms around me and hugged me to his chest.

"Bad dream?" I heard Grandpa John's voice.

"I think so," Daddy said. He stroked the back of my head. "Charlie, were you having a nightmare?"

"Lots-the vampire—Big Luke was on the table but he turned into Mommy, and then—then-we were at the campsite and the wolf-creature came out of the woods and someone shot it and it was you, Daddy, and then Aunt Michelle was there and her skin was coming off and she was grabbing me-" I shuddered, and started to cry harder.

"All right, shh," Daddy soothed, rubbing my back.

"That's some dream," I heard Uncle Sam say, "Charlie, how's your head?"

"Still hurts," I whimpered.

"I want you to take some more medicine," Uncle Sam said, "I'll get you some water."

I turned my head and looked up. Grandpa John was standing by the bed looking at me with concern on his face. He reached down and cupped my cheek with his hand for a moment.

Uncle Sam put a glass of water on the bedside table and then picked up a bottle of medicine, shaking it and pouring out a dose. He handed me the tiny plastic cup of medicine and I drank it, then took the water he handed me. I was very thirsty, and I drank it all down.

"You think you can go back to sleep?" Daddy asked me.

"Yeah," I mumbled. He laid down in the bed and I curled up next to him. He put his arm around me and I nestled into his side. I felt him rubbing my back as I fell back to sleep.

I woke up in the early afternoon. Daddy was sitting on the sofa, watching t.v. with the volume low. I sat up, and he got up and walked over to the bed.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked.

"My head only hurts a little," I said, "I feel- hollow inside."

"Are you hungry? I've got a couple of breakfast sandwiches left."

I shook my head. "Daddy, I'm sorry I touched that gun, I know I'm not s'posed to, but I couldn't help it-"

"I know," he said, "I could tell."

"How?"

"You got this—faraway look in your eyes, you got the same way when you were holding the scissors, and then you just started to talk, and the words were coming out of your mouth really fast. It all happened very quickly," he smoothed my hair back from my face, "If you don't want to eat, get dressed, so we can go to Missouri's, all right?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said, feeling relieved that I wasn't in trouble. I got off of the bed and got some clothes out of my duffle, and got dressed. Daddy texted someone, and in a couple of minutes there was a knock on the door. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came into the room.

"How are you feeling?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"I have a little headache, and I feel shaky." I said.

He gave me another dose of medicine, and then we got into the car and drove to Missouri's house.

She let us in and stepped back as we all walked in. "Did you bring it?" she asked.

Uncle Sam patted his laptop bag. "It's in here," he said.

We walked into the living room and I sat down on the sofa. Everyone else kept standing.

"Well I don't even need to see it, I can feel its power from here," Missouri said, "John Winchester, how could you bring an object with that much power in it around your grand-daughter who you know has psychic abilities? You yourself told me she ain't got much control over a lot of it, and we both have seen it first hand over the past couple of days, what you want to make things harder on her for?"

"I—I wasn't thinking of it that way-" Grandpa John said hesitantly.

"Of course you weren't, you stubborn man," she shook her head, "All a' y'all got to really look at this, you've got a child in your family with abilities that would make her a target if she weren't related," she held up her hand, "Don't even bother denying it, Dean, you know it's true. Now all a' you got to really think on this child and what her abilites mean, and really deal with the fact that she's like this. It ain't going away, and things are just gonna get stronger the older she gets and the more control she gains over it. I'm not here to make her stifle anything or turn her into a 'normal kid' or make her change."

"I never said any of those-" Daddy started.

"No, but you were thinkin' along those lines, and don't you deny it, boy!" Missouri snapped, "You better learn to accept it, Dean Winchester, because there'll be people in the future who don't take kindly to her abilities, and you're going to have to defend her! And you know how some hunters are when they can smell weakness on another! You say you want to protect her from anything bad happening, you got to get right with this, so that you can protect her from those who aren't going to understand her."

"All right," Daddy sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "All right, you're right, I was hoping...that you'd be able to show Charlie how to control everything and it wouldn't be...such a big deal any more. I just don't... I don't know how—I'm a hunter, I hunt things down, and that's all I do, I don't have any of these extra senses or whatever, so I have no idea how to deal!"

Missouri walked up to him and put her hands on his cheeks. "You accept her for what she is, completely, and accept what she can do, and that's it. Let go of this idea of 'normal', you know there ain't no normal in your line of work and there never has been," she chuckled and put her hands down.

"But I want things to be different for her, than they were for me," Daddy said.

"Honey, they already are, you got your brother and your father and a whole mess of others helpin' you out with things, and you know that if anything ever happened there'd be people she could go to. There's that saying, "It takes a village", you already got a village for Charlie. Her life isn't going to be your life, and it isn't going to be normal either. Hell, normal is just a setting on the dryer anyway, right?"

She turned and looked at me, "Now, we need to talk about what happened, and I want to hear what you saw," she came over and sat down next to me. Daddy sat on the other side of me and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam sat across from us.

I told Missouri what had happened, and everything that I had seen. She shook her head and pressed her lips together. "Oh, child, that's such a lot for you to handle," she murmured.

"It happened the same way as when she was holding those scissors, one minute she was standing there and then she had picked up the gun, and her eyes had that- a farway look in them, and she was talking really fast," Daddy said, "I pulled the gun out of her hands and that snapped her out of it."

"And then she got dizzy and swooned," Uncle Sam said, "She got a bad headache right away, and passed out."

"I think it's too much information for her young mind to process, and that's why the headache happens," Missouri said, "I think as she gets older, she won't get headaches like that."

"Missouri, when she woke up later, she told us more things she had seen. But she wasn't touching the gun, how could she be getting more from it?" Daddy asked.

"Well, the Colt is a legendary object, it's imbued with a lot of power, not just from it's use, but from when and how it was made, you know that. So you got this weapon with immense power, that's been used for decades killin' supernaturals, and all'a that energy is stored up in it. And with Charlie being sensitive like she is, it's like pouring water from a pitcher into a glass. The energy and information just kept coming into her, even though she didn't tell you everything at first, only what she could handle at the time," Missouri put her hand on mine, "I'm quite surprised you're feeling well enough to come here today."

"I couldn't get the images out of my head, and I had bad dreams at night," I told her, "It was awful."

I looked at Daddy. "If that's what you hunt, then I don't want to have anything to do with it," tears filled my eyes.

Daddy put his arm around my shoulders. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Charlie, but I wish that you hadn't seen what you did."

"Well, this is a learning process," Missouri said briskly, "For all of us. This has shown us how sensitive Charlie is, and shown y'all that you need to take it seriously."

"How can we—prevent-this from happening again?" Daddy asked.

"Well, the obvious answer is to keep her away from old objects for now. And she and I can keep working on her blocking, but I think we need to change what she's visualizing. You feel like doing some work, honey?"

"O-okay," I agreed.

"There's a fresh pot of coffee on in the kitchen, and I made some coffecake yesterday, you all go get yourself some," she said, and Daddy stood up. Grandpa John and Uncle Sam followed him into the kitchen.

Missouri and I did some deep breathing, and then I practiced seeing the flower in my mind and blocking her out.

"Now, instead of a wall, I want you to imagine that you're putting gloves on," she told me, "Whatever you want them to look like, but you imagine that they're strong enough that nothing will get through them."

I closed my eyes and imagined myself holding my hands out, and putting thick heavy gloves on my hands. "Okay," I opened my eyes.

"All right, keep that in your mind, and take my Grand-Mere's shawl," she said.

I closed my eyes again, and tried to imagine the gloves, and felt the soft shawl in my hands. Then I felt a sharp pain in my head and I cried out and opened my eyes.

"What is it, child?" Missouri's forehead was creased in worried lines.

"My head—hurts-" I put my hands up to my head and leaned forward. I saw little sparkly stars in my vision again.

I turned my head and looked at her. "Missouri I'm seeing little stars, like white sparks!" I cried out.

She sighed and shook her head. "I think you're not ready," she said, almost to herself, "That gun did a number on you."

Daddy came into the room. "What's up?" he asked.

"You need to take this child back to your room," Missouri stood up, "She's not ready to work yet, her mind is still raw from before. I want her to rest quietly today, she can watch a little bit of t.v., but only light shows, nothing too intense or serious. Electronics can keep the headache goin', so no computer, and like I said limit her t.v. watchin'. She needs to rest, one or two naps, and a little bit of reading if she's of a mind to. Makes sure she drinks enough water and eats well. Call me in the morning, she may need to rest tomorrow too."

"What do you think happened?" Uncle Sam asked, "Why is this happening?"

"Well, it's like when you're moving furniture and you lift something that's too heavy. You might not feel it at the time, but the next day when you wake up, you know you did too much 'cause your muscles are in pain. Charlie's abilities are overworked and she needs to rest for a good while to let them heal up. Does that make sense?" she looked at Daddy and Uncle Sam.

"Yeah, it does," Daddy said, "You heard her, Charlie, you need to rest, and take naps."

I sighed. "Okaaay," I muttered, "Naps make me feel like a baby."

"You need to rest and heal, honey. I hear that you gave your father grief about it and I'mma give him my wooden spoon to use on your backside, you hear?"

I looked up at her and gulped, "Yes, Missouri."

Daddy chuckled, "Don't worry, I've got that covered, I won't need your spoon."

"I'm sure that you do, I'm just makin' sure that she knows how serious this is."

Grandpa John came over to Missouri and took her hands. "Thank you so much for taking the time to work with Charlie," he said, and his voice was husky, "It really means a lot."

"Well, thank you, John," Missouri smiled at him, "I'm so glad that I can help her. She's an exceptional little girl."

Grandpa John hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"Come on, Charlie," Daddy said, holding his hand out.

I stood up, and hugged Missouri. "Thank you," I said.

She hugged me and patted my back. "You rest up, and get yourself better."

She walked us to the door, and we went out to the car.

As Daddy started the car, I asked, "Can we go to a park? I want to swing."

"Uh, that's not resting," Uncle Sam glanced back at me.

"Do I have to rest the whole time?" I grumped.

"Missouri's orders," Daddy said, "Hey, Sam, maybe I should go back to her house and get that wooden spoon, what do you think?"

"Nooo!" I protested, shrinking back against the seat.

"You need to do everything that she said, and I'm going to make sure of that, otherwise she might use the spoon on me for not enforcing what she told us!" Daddy joked.

My head was still hurting when we got back to the room, so Uncle Sam gave me another dose of medicine.

"I want you to lay down and rest now, Charlie," Daddy said.

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed.

He tucked me into bed, and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "I'm going to go next door to Uncle Sam's room, so come get me if you need something."

This motel didn't have connecting rooms like the other one, so we had to leave this room and walk to the room next to us, that Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were staying in.

I closed my eyes and tried to rest, but I couldn't. I kept thinking about things, and getting flashes of what I had seen yesterday. After a while, I got up to go pee, and then I got my 3Ds out. I laid in bed on my tummy, playing a game.

I heard the door open, and then Daddy said, "What are you still doing up?"

He came walking over to the bed and saw what I was doing. "Charlie!" he said with annoyance. He yanked the covers down off of me and smacked my butt twice.

"Oww!" I turned to the side and reached back to cover my butt, "I can't sleeeeep," I whined, "I kept seeing things from yesterday!"

"That's no excuse!" Daddy snapped, "You're supposed to be resting, which means laying down with your eyes closed, even if you're not asleep. It does not mean playing your 3DS, that could make your headache worse!"

He reached for my 3DS and I pulled away from him, leaning backwards. "Noooo!" I whined again, "I'll turn it off!"

"Little girl-" Daddy gritted out. He pulled the game out of my grasp and put it on the bedside table, then turned back to me. He took my shoulder and pushed me back onto my tummy, and swatted me again. "You'd better do what you're told, Charlotte Anne, or you're going to end up over my knee. You need to rest."

I huffed. "Okaaay-OW!" I exclaimed as he spanked my bottom again.

"Watch- the—attitude," Daddy said sternly. He pulled the covers up, and then picked up the 3DS. "I guess I need to stay in here and keep an eye on you for now."

I sighed and turned my head, closing my eyes. I heard Daddy walking away, and a moment later I heard the t.v. turn on.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I put the container of chicken and mixed vegetables on the coffeetable. "I'm done," I said.

"And so is the t.v.," Uncle Sam picked up the remote and turned it off.

"Hey!" I protested, "I wanted to watch the next one and find out who wins the finale!" We had watched an episode of my favorite cooking contest.

"No, Missouri said a little bit of t.v., and I think one show is enough," Uncle Sam said, "We don't want to overdo it with electronics, they can prolong a headache."

"But-"

"Throw your trash away, and then bath and bed," Daddy told me.

"Nooooo!" I whined.

I leaned over and tried to take the remote from Uncle Sam. He pulled it away from me. "Charlie, stop that," he said sternly.

"Charlie, what did I just tell you to do?" Daddy frowned at me, crossing his arms on his chest.

"I don't wanna go to bed early," I said sulkily.

"Well, you need to rest," Daddy turned and walked towards the bathroom, "I'm going to start the water."

I huffed and crossed my arms. I was not going to get up, I was not going to take a bath, and I was not going to go to bed early!

Daddy stepped out of the bathroom. "Charlie," he said, "get over here, now."

"No!" I said loudly, leaning forward and clenching my fists.

"You have 'til the count of three," Daddy said, "One-"

"Charlie," Uncle Sam said warningly. I glared at him.

Daddy put his hands on his hips. "Two—little girl, you really do not want me to get to three. I have the paddle in my duffle."

I got up and stomped over to the bathroom. "Fine, I'll take a stupid bath! But I'm not gonna go to bed early!" I snapped, pushing past Daddy into the bathroom.

"All right, I am done," Daddy said angrily, "And so are you," he walked into the bathroom after me and took my arm, pulling me over to him. He pulled my pants and panties down and then took my arm again, turning me and smacking my bare bottom a couple of times. It happened so fast I didn't have time to react until I felt the sting on my butt.

"OWWW!" I yelled, tears coming to my eyes.

Daddy let me go and folded his arms again, frowning at me. "Get your clothes off and get in the tub. This is your last chance before I get out the paddle."

Even though I felt mad at him, my tummy twisted nervously. "Daddy-"

"What did I just say!" Daddy yelled, and I jumped.

Grandpa John came to the door of the bathroom. "What's going on in here?" He looked from Daddy to me.

"She's decided to have a huge attitude and be argumentative, and I'm not having it any more!" Daddy raked his hand through his hair.

"I brought back some beer, go have one and relax, I'll take over here," Grandpa John said in a calming tone.

"The paddle's in my duffle if you need it," Daddy left the room.

"We're not going to need it, are we, little girl?" Grandpa John's voice was deep and stern, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

I gulped. I didn't want Grandpa John to spank me ever again, and I certainly didn't want him to use the paddle!

"N-no, Grandpa John," I said quickly.

"Clothes off and in the tub," he crossed over to the tub and turned the water off. "Do you need help washing your hair?"

I stepped out of my pants and underpants, and then pulled my shirt off. "No, I can do it myself," I said. I climbed into the tub and sat down, and he leaned down and handed me a washcloth.

"I'll go get your nightgown," he said, and left the bathroom. He came back with the fancy Hello Kitty nightgown that Daddy had given me when I got out of the hospital. I felt bad for how I had been acting, and it made me feel sad. "Why's Daddy bein' so strict and acting so grumpy?" I asked.

Grandpa John set my clothes on the counter. "He's worried about you. We all are. Your headaches are concerning, and we want you to get better. But you need to take care of yourself too, and you can do that by doing what you're told."

I bowed my head, and tears filled my eyes and began to drip into the water. I looked up at him after a minute. "I don't know why I'm bein' so naughty!" I wailed, "I just feel like a baby having to take naps and go to bed early!"

"You don't like being told what to do like this," Grandpa John said, "but it's a way of taking care of you, and it's one you're not used to. You were left on your own so much and you became independent, so now when someone tells you what to do, you deal with it by saying you feel like a baby and getting angry."

I frowned at him. "I don't get it."

He chuckled. "You don't have to get it, just know that when we tell you what to do we're taking care of you, and let it happen."

I lowered my head again. Daddy was just trying to take care of me, and I was acting horrible to him. I started to cry again. "I want Daddy," I said quietly, watching the tears drip into the bath water.

"Dean!" Grandpa John called, "Your daughter wants you!"

Daddy appeared in the doorway, holding a bottle of beer. "Yeah?"

I looked up at him. "I'm sorry!" I wailed, "I'm sorry I was so horrible and bad!"

He came over and knelt down next to the tub, leaning in and hugging me. I threw my arms around him and hugged him back.

"You're not bad, sweetheart," he murmured. He squeezed and and then let me go.

"I got you all wet," I said as he sat back on his heels. "Sorry."

"That's all right," he smiled at me.

He stood up, and I picked up the bar of soap and started to lather the washcloth. Daddy and Grandpa John left the bathroom, and I washed myself quickly.

Daddy came back to the door when I let the water out of the tub. He took the towel from me and started to rub my hair dry. When it was mostly dry he stopped, and handed me the brush. I went into the room and took it over to Uncle Sam.

"Sorry I was so mouthy before," I muttered, handing him the brush.

"Thank you for apologizing," Uncle Sam said, brushing the tangles out of my hair, "How is your head?"

"Uh- it does hurt a little," I said, ducking my head guiltily. It had started to hurt while I was watching the show.

I put the brush back in the bathroom when he was finished, and brushed my teeth. Uncle Sam followed me and gave me a dose of medicine.

I hugged and kissed him and Grandpa John good night, then got into my bed.

Daddy tucked me in and leaned down to hug me. "I hope you're feeling one hundred percent tomorrow," he said.

"Me too," I yawned. I was feeling tired now. "Good night, Daddy, love you."

"Good night, baby, love you too." he leaned down to kiss my cheek.


	61. Chapter 61

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that the swelling and bruising are gone I'm dealing with the pain that happens when a bone is growing back together. It's distracting and annoying! Seeing all the reviews and kudos make me happy, so THANK YOU for all the reviews and kudos!  
> *************

I woke up early the next morning, needing to pee. Daddy didn't stir in his bed at all as I came back to my bed after I'd used the bathroom. I laid back down and tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't.

I sighed and rolled over, then I got out of bed. I wasn't tired any more, and I was bored of laying there. I walked over to the sofa and turned the t.v. on, putting the volume really low. It was still dark outside, and most of what was on was morning news shows. I found an old cartoon that I used to watch when I was little, about animals that lived in a preschool, and I laid down on the sofa to watch it. The show made me feel comforted, I had loved the adventures that the animals had gone on and the songs that they sang, and the sassy little duck had been my favorite character.

I heard Daddy sigh and then saw him roll over and sit up. He rubbed his hand over his face, blinking slowly, and then turned his head.

"Charlie?" he noticed me, "what are you doing up?" He got out of bed and started to walk over to me.

"I—I couldn't sleep any more, I wasn't tired," I said.

He frowned. "Are you watching t.v.?"

"Yeah, but it's okay Daddy, my head doesn't hurt."

"No, little girl, it's not okay," he walked over to the wall and pulled the plug out, and the t.v. screen went dark.

"Hey!" I protested, sitting up. My head throbbed painfully as I changed position, and I winced and put my hand up to my forehead.

"What's wrong?" Daddy came over to me quickly.

I blushed. "My, uh, my head hurts now," I said sheepishly.

"Dammit, Charlie!" Daddy snapped, putting his hands on his hips, "You see? This is why you were told yesterday to limit electronics. You'd better start listening and doing what you're told."

He came over to me quickly and pulled me to a standing position, then he landed 4 hard spanks on my bottom.

"Oww," I whined, covering my butt with my hands.

He let me go and pointed. "Get your butt into bed. Now."

I hurried over to the bed and climbed under the covers, wiping the tears that had come to my eyes.

He brought over a glass of water, and then poured medicine into the little dosing cup. He handed it to me, and I drank the medicine, and then half the glass of water that he handed me.

"You're resting today, you got that?" he said sternly, "No t.v., no 3DS, no electronics."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the look on his face stopped me.

I laid down and said meekly, "Yes, Daddy."

He pulled the covers up, and leaned down to kiss my forehead. "Rest," he said simply.

He walked over to his duffle and got out some clothes, and then went into the bathroom to change. In a few minutes, I heard the buzzing sound of his electric razor.

I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep, but the next thing I knew, I was waking up. I could smell coffee and bacon.

I sat up- Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were sitting at the table across the room with Daddy, and they were eating breakfast.

"Charlie, I got you pancakes," Uncle Sam called.

I got out of bed and walked over to them.

Daddy pulled me over to him and pulled me into a hug. "How's your head?"

"Still hurts a little," I snuggled into his chest.

"It'll be time to give you another dose of medicine in about an hour," he said, "you hungry?"

"Yeah," I sat down next to him. Uncle Sam pulled a container out of a bag and opened it. It had pancakes, scrambled eggs, and two pieces of bacon in it.

"Thanks, Uncle Sam!" I smiled at him, and he ruffled my hair.

He opened a small container of syrup and put it next to me.

"Do you want to try and take her over to Missouri's today?" Grandpa John asked.

"Not if she's still got a headache," Daddy said, "I'll call her after we eat and see what she recommends," he gave me a pointed look, "I think today is going to be a day of enforced resting for Charlie."

I shrank down in my chair a little. "Okay, Daddy," I agreed.

After we ate, Daddy said, "Back in bed, Charlie."

"Aww, why?" I whined, "I don't wanna take a nap!"

"You don't have to take a nap, but being in bed will help remind you that you're supposed to be resting," Daddy gave me a look.

"I can rest just fine on the sofa!" I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You want to keep arguing with me, little girl? See where it gets you," Daddy gathered some trash and stood up to throw it away.

"I'll bring your drawing stuff in from the car, you can do that," Uncle Sam said.

I didn't feel like drawing. Uncle Sam had also brought in my backpack full of my toys and the bag that had the home-schooling textbook he had originally bought me. I played with my little Hello Kitty figurines for a while, and then I pulled out the Language Arts textbook. It had some short stories and some stories from parts of books in it. I read about a little girl who lived in a log cabin with her family in the olden days, then I read a chapter of a story about a horse called Black Beauty.

Daddy came into the bedroom. "It's about time for lunch, Charlie," he said, "We're going to go out. I heard about this Greek-Italian place, supposed to have the best Gyros and cheese steaks around."

I got dressed and we went to the restaurant. It was busy, and there were a lot of people there—people picking up carry-out as well as people waiting for tables. Classic rock was playing in the restaurant, and there were a couple of video games and a couple of machines at the back that Daddy said were called pinball machines.

"Can I go play one of the games?" I asked.

"No, that counts as electronics," Daddy said.

"Aww, but I don't get a chance to play those old games that much!" I protested.

"The answer is still no," Daddy took a drink of his soda.

I crossed my arms and huffed, pouting. "Not fair," I muttered, kicking my feet against the rungs of my chair. "Can't I play a pinball game? I've never played one of those!"

Daddy leaned forward. "I said no, Charlie," he said sternly. He watched me for a minute. "You better cool it," he said, "You're gearing up for a tantrum, and I'm not having it. I will take you out to the car and spank you."

"I'm not having a tantrum!" I snapped, pounding the table with my fist, "You're just not being fair!"

Grandpa John looked at me. "Calm down. It's very important that you let your brain rest. Your father is trying to take care of you, we all are."

"Not you're not, you're just being mean!" I kicked the chair again, and it made a clanging noise.

Grandpa John raised his eyebrows. "Do you need an attitude adjustment, little girl?" he growled.

I gulped, feeling my face get red. "N-no, Grandpa John," I said quickly.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" his voice was stern.

"Sorry, Grandpa John, sorry Daddy," I said, looking down at the table.

The waitress brought our food just then, and we ate quietly for the next several minutes.

"Well, I have to say, I think this is the best gyro I've ever had," Uncle Sam said.

"The cheese steak is pretty awesome too," Daddy agreed, "We'll have to come back before we leave."

"Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked, "You okay?"

The noise of the restaurant, plus the music playing, and the sound of the video games had all combined to make my head start feeling funny. I was feeling pressure inside, and a little dizzy.

"Don't feel good," I murmured, putting my hand up to my head.

"What's wrong?" Daddy's face was concerned.

"The noise and everything...it's too much."

"I'll take her out to the car, you finish up here and grab the check," Grandpa John slid out of the booth and held his hand out to me, "Come on, darlin'."

I took his hand and we walked out to the car. He sat in the back with me, and I leaned against him while he rubbed my head. The quiet felt good after all the noise of the restaurant.

Daddy and Uncle Sam got in the car carrying white styrofoam boxes, and Daddy started the car.

By the time we got to the motel, my head was hurting. I whimpered as I sat forward when Daddy parked.

"Bed, Charlie," Daddy said as we got out of the car.

"Yeah," I mumbled. Grandpa John picked me up and carried me into the room, setting me down on my bed and taking my shoes off. Uncle Sam gave me a dose of medicine, and then I laid down. Daddy sat next to me and rubbed my forehead and stroked my hair like he had done before, and I fell asleep feeling his hand in my hair.

When I woke up, Daddy was sitting on the sofa, watching t.v. with the sound low. He came over to the bed and sat on the edge. "How are you feeling, baby?" he asked.

"A lot better," I rolled onto my back, "I'm starving!"

He chuckled. "Yeah, you slept through dinner last night. I figured that you needed it. There's bagels and sausage if you want some."

I got up and Daddy heated the sausage up in the microwave for me.

"Do you feel like going to Missouri's today?" he asked.

"Yeah," I agreed, "My head feels fine."

"All right, but the second you start feeling bad, you say something, got it?" he looked at me seriously.

"Yes Daddy. Where's Uncle Sam and Grandpa John?"

Daddy got an uncomfortable look on his face. "They got a call...about a potential case, they're doing some research at the library," he stood up from the table, "I'll call Missouri, and let her know we'll be over soon."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

This time when I picked up Missouri's Grand-Mere's shawl, I didn't see anything. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Nothing," I said.

"Good job, honey!" she smiled at me, "What were you doin' that was different?"

"I, uh, imagined that I had gloves on that were made of adamatium," I said.

"Ada- what?" she asked with a confused look.

"It's, uh, this pretend stuff that Wolverine's claws are made out of. It's s'posed to be really strong," I said sheepishly.

She laughed. "I heard of Wolverine, whatever works for you, child. You keep that in your mind, and see if that helps you to keep blocking."

Daddy came into the room. "I got a call from Dad...can I talk to you?" he said to Missouri. She got up, and they went into the kitchen. In a few minutes, they came back to the living room.

"How do you feel, Charlie? Do you feel like you've got a handle on things?" Missouri asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

"All right, good." she nodded.

"We're going to have to leave, Charlie," Daddy told me.

"But why?" I asked.

Daddy looked uncomfortable again. "Well...this case, we need to...help Dad with it. It's a couple of states away, and time is of the essence. We need to get there as soon as possible."

There was a knock on the door, and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam came in. Grandpa John seemed agitated. All of them went into the kitchen and spent a long time talking. I started to get bored, but they were all being so serious I didn't want to complain.

Finally they came back to the living room.

"We're going to pack up the motel room and go, Charlie, say good-bye to Missouri," Daddy said.

Missouri came over to me and hugged me tightly. "You take care of yourself, and keep practicing," she told me, "You call me if you have any questions or problems, all righty?"

I felt a little sad to be leaving. "Thanks for everything, Missouri," I said.

"You're welcome, honey," She stood up and hugged Daddy and Uncle Sam, then she crossed the room to the desk in the corner. She got something out, and handed it to Grandpa John. She hugged him for a long moment, and said, "You come back to me, John Winchester. Be very careful, and don't you be making any deals, hear?"

"I won't," he said.

She pulled back and took his hands, looking him deep in the eyes. "I mean it, you be very careful," she said cautiously, "All a' y'all got to be careful with this."

"We will," Uncle Sam said.

We left Missouri's and went back to the motel. While Daddy and I packed up our room, Uncle Sam went to take care of the bill. All of them were acting distracted, so I didn't want to ask what was going on.

"We ready to go?" Daddy asked me, "Did you use the rest room?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said. We went outside, where Grandpa John was loading up his truck.

"All right, let's hit the road," Daddy said.

We got into the car, and followed Grandpa John's truck out to the highway.


	62. Chapter 62

We had been in Illinois for two days now. I was with Uncle Sam in a small motel room. Daddy was with Grandpa John, and they had been gone since yesterday. No one would talk to me about what they are doing, but they were all very tense about it. I had overheard Grandpa John talking about visiting a church to "get a refill", and I thought I had heard Daddy say the word 'demon', but I didn't want to ask. I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop, and I didn't want to get a spanking, so I didn't say anything.

"I'm done," I said, and Uncle Sam came over and picked up the tablet. He and I had started working on home-schooling stuff. I had just taken another vocabulary test. I watched him tapping the screen, and then he looked up at me. "Great job, Charlie, you only got one wrong!" he smiled at me.

"One wrong!" I frowned, "But I never get words wrong!"

He leaned down and showed me, "You switched the i and the e, it's easy to do that with some words."

I folded my arms, "Hmph."

He chuckled, and ruffled my hair. "You're not always going to get 100 percent, kiddo," he told me, "I think this is a good place to stop, want to go to the park before dinner?"

I sat up. "Yeah! Can we call Daddy and find out when they're coming back?"

Uncle Sam looked uncomfortable. "Uh, no, I don't want to interrupt them," he said, "They'll be home soon, I'm sure."

"But- I need to know if Daddy's okay!" I said, and I felt like crying. We hadn't heard from them since the night before, when Daddy had called to say good-night to me.

Uncle Sam squatted down in front of me. "I know you're worried, but trust me when I tell you that they're okay. Dad and Dean have handled situations like this before, and they're fine."

"What is it—the situation?" I wiped the tears that had come to my eyes.

"Well, it's —you don't need to know about it," he stood up, "Get get your shoes on, and we can go."

Uncle Sam drove us to a park that was near the motel that had a big playground. I ran around for a long time, and Uncle Sam pushed me on the swings, and then he sat next to me and swung too. He looked funny when he leaned back and stuck his long legs out.

After we ate, Uncle Sam noticed that there was a store that sold games next to the restaurant. We went in, and he let me pick a new game for my 3DS. I chose a game where you worked in an animal hospital. You picked out the animals that you wanted, and then took care of them in different ways. You could give them baths, or examine them, or play with them. Each animal reacted a different way to the things you did, and it made me laugh. Uncle Sam had to take my 3DS away at bedtime because I didn't want to stop playing.

I woke up when I heard Daddy's voice. I sat up, saw him, and bounced out of bed to run over and hug him.

"Whoa, hold on, " he said, holding his arms up. I stopped and stared at him.

Daddy's shirt front was covered in red, and he had speckles of red on his arms and face too, and some on his pants.

"Daddy, what-" I gulped, as I realized what it was, "Is that blood? Is that your blood?" I started to cry, feeling scared.

"No, I'm okay, I'm fine," Daddy said in a calm voice.

"Wh-why do you have blood on your shirt?" I asked, "Someone else's blood?" I squeaked.

"It's—well, we, uh, there was a fight," he said uncomfortably, "Everything's fine though, we...came through it okay. Let me go get in the shower, and then I can see you."

He went to get clothes out of his duffle and then went into the bathroom.

"Uncle Sam who was he fighting?" I sniffled, "Did he hurt the other person? Why was there so much blood?"

"Come here, honey," Uncle Sam pulled me into his arms, "Listen, I know you're worried, but...sometimes we have to...deal with supernatural...creatures...and get rid of them. Because they're hurting people. You know what rabies is, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, if there was a dog with rabies, you have to put it down, right? Because there's no cure for it, and it's dangerous for people to be around, and it will die. So...the dog has to be put to sleep. And that's...that's what we do sometimes, with some...creatures."

I looked at him. "You-you kill them?"

He nodded.

"Did Daddy kill... whatever it was?" I whispered.

"I don't know, Charlie. I haven't talked to him about it yet," Uncle Sam hugged me, "Let's get you back in bed, and you can talk to your Dad when he comes out of the bathroom."

I laid in bed waiting for Daddy. When he came out of the bathroom, Uncle Sam talked to him quietly on the other side of the room for a few minutes. Then Daddy came over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hey, kiddo," he said. I sat up and put my arms around him.

"I missed you, Daddy, I was worried about you!" I told him.

"I know, sweetheart. We're back now, and it's okay," he put his arms around me and squeezed me.

I looked up at him. "Did you kill it?"

He blinked in surprise. "Charlie, I'm not...going to talk about it with you," he said uncomfortably, "Just trust me when I tell you that it's over, and we set out what we went to do," He smoothed his hand over my hair, "We need to go back to our old motel near Lisa's, you have to go back to the hospital and get some more testing done. Dr. Miriam still wants to take your blood every so often."

"Aww, do I have to? I hate needles!"

"Yes, you have to. We can see Ben and Lisa again, and decide what we want to do," he kissed the top of my head.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we can decide if we want to stay there, or move somewhere else. If we stay, we can look at renting a house."

"A house? To live in?"

He nodded.

"That would be cool, I've never lived in a house before!" I said excitedly, "Hey, couldn't we move in with Ben and Lisa?"

A look crossed Daddy's face. "No, uhhh...what would Grandpa John and Uncle Sam do? There isn't room in their house for them."

"Oh, yeah. So we'd all live together?"

"Yeah, we'd try to find a place that would fit all four of us," Daddy told me.

"That will be fun!"

Daddy chuckled. "I've lived in rental houses before, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

"But I only ever lived in the 'partment with my mommy!" I said, "so it's exciting for me!"

He ruffled my hair. "I understand. Now you need to lay down and go to sleep, and we'll get on the road tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," I hugged him again.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Ben!" I cheered happily, as we came into the house. I ran up to him and hugged him, then I hugged Lisa. Lisa hugged Daddy, and then Ben went over to Daddy and hugged him too.

"I missed you guys!" Ben said as Grandpa John ruffled his hair.

"It's nice to be back here," Daddy said with a sigh, "I forgot how nice the motel is."

We had been back in Indiana since last night, and Lisa had invited us over for dinner this evening.

"Dinner will be ready in about half an hour," Lisa said.

"Let's go out front, Charlie," Ben said, "I got a new skateboard!"

"Don't forget your helmet and pads," Lisa called.

"I won't, Mom," Ben rolled his eyes. I followed him out to the front yard. He put the skateboard down on the side walk. "Watch me do an Ollie!" he said, getting onto the board. He moved his legs and all of a sudden the board came up off the ground, with his feet still on it.

"Uh, that's an Ollie?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said proudly.

He pushed off the ground skated down the sidewalk.

"Aren't you s'posed to wear a helmet?" I asked hesitantly.

"Nah, I'm just gonna be right here," Ben said confidently, "Watch this!" He tried to do another Ollie, and the board fell down before his feet landed.

"Hey," his friend Tyler called from across the street, "I got a new X-Men game for my X-Box, wanna come see?"

"Cool!" Ben called. He glanced at me. "Let's go, Charlie!"

"Um, I'm s'posed to ask Daddy before I go somewhere," I said.

"It's X-men, Charlie! It'll just be for a second!" Ben glanced at me again, and then crossed the street.

"Ben, wait!" I called, hesitating again. Last time we had left without asking, both of us had gotten spankings. I wasn't eager to repeat that experience.

"Be right back!" Ben called over his shoulder.

I saw Tyler throw a glance at me, and thought I heard him say something about "big baby" before they went into his house.

Sighing, I turned and walked back into Lisa's house. Everyone was in the kitchen, either sitting or standing around the island. They were all drinking beer.

"What's up, Charlie?" Daddy put his hand on my shoulder.

"Where's Ben?" Lisa turned from the stove, holding a plastic spoon.

I flushed. "He, uh, he went...uh, Tyler came outside and asked if we wanted to go see his new X-Box game, and Ben...said yes," I glanced at Daddy sideways.

Lisa got a mad look on his face. "How many times do we have to go through this?" she muttered to herself. She put the spoon down on the stove. "Dean, keep stirring this, would you? I've got to go get my stubborn, bull-headed child."

She stalked out of the room, shaking her head and muttering to herself. We heard the front door close.

"I feel bad 'cause I got Ben in trouble," I said.

"Well, you did the right thing, Charlie," Daddy said, "You know that you're not supposed to go anywhere without asking first, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, that's what I told Ben."

"Good girl, Charlie," Uncle Sam patted my back and smiled at me.

"I didn't, uh, want to get in trouble again," I said, "But I'm worried he's gonna be mad at me."

"Ben did the wrong thing, so he's got nobody to blame except himself," Daddy said, "Don't you worry about that."

We heard the front door open, and then Lisa' voice. "-told you to wear your helmet and pads, and you didn't do that either!"

There was the sound of a swat, and Lisa said, "Get your behind upstairs right now, young man!"

We heard footstpes pounding up the stairs as Lisa came into the kitchen. She walked over to the counter and grabbed a wooden spoon out of a canister that was sitting next to the stove. "I'm sorry to say that Ben will not be joining us for dinner tonight," she said tersely. She left the room, sighing.

Daddy and Uncle Sam looked at each other. "I guess Ben's going to get his butt blistered," Daddy said.

"Why did Lisa take that spoon?" I asked, confused.

"For spanking Ben with," Daddy told me.

"With a spoon?"

Daddy nodded, "It's wooden, so it packs a wallop. Same as a paddle or a wooden hairbrush."

I gulped, feeling worse for Ben. "So he's gonna get spanked with it?"

Daddy nodded. "Lisa's talked to him many times about just wandering off to his friend's houses, and he keeps doing it, so she needs to let him know she means business."

A couple of minutes later, a wail drifted down the stairs. I felt even more bad for Ben, and looked down at the ground.

"You know, you didn't let Ben lead you into trouble, you left and did the right thing." Grandpa John said to me, "That's a lot smarter than these two knuckleheads were sometimes," he grinned at Uncle Sam, "You boys were always getting into trouble together."

"We were partners in crime, Sammy wanted to be like his cool big brother," Daddy said.

"Only until I was old enough to realize that you weren't too smart about things sometimes," Uncle Sam retorted, "And then I tried not to get into trouble any more."

"Yeah, your mouth did that enough for you when you got older," Daddy chuckled.

Lisa came back into the kitchen and tossed the spoon on the counter. She grabbed her glass of wine and drank the whole thing down, then walked over to the fridge and poured another glass. "I hate having to be the heavy," she said, "but we've been over this time and time again and he just doesn't learn."

"It is rough," Daddy agreed, "Hopefully he'll remember next time. Did I stir this enough?"

Lisa looked in the pot. "Yeah, you did. Let me check the meat, it should be ready now."

Lisa had made a pot roast with gravy and mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob.

"I haven't had a pot roast in ages, this is great," Grandpa John said, "Thanks for making this," he smiled at Lisa.

"I figured you all have been on the road and eating so much diner food that you needed some good home-style food," Lisa smiled at Grandpa John. Daddy reached out and squeezed Lisa's hand. "It was just what we needed," he smiled at her too.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I set my pizza crust down on my plate. "I'm full," I groaned, "Can we go to the park now?"

"No, the park closes when it gets dark," Uncle Sam said. Daddy and Lisa were on a date, and Uncle Sam was watching Ben and me at our motel.

I turned to look out the window. "It's not that dark."

"No, Charlie," Uncle Sam said.

"Can we go out for ice cream?" I asked, leaning forward, "Pleeease?"

Uncle Sam gave me a look. "You just said you were full!"

"But you said you'd take us for ice cream!" I reminded him, "C'mon!"

He sighed. "All right," He stood up and picked up our paper plates. Ben grinned at me and gave me a high-five.

Ben bounced on the back seat of the Impala as we drove to the Dairy Queen. It was different having Uncle Sam being the one driving and having Ben in the back with me. When we got out, Ben started to dart forward, and Uncle Sam put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Wait, don't just go running off," Uncle Sam said, a little sternly.

Since it was Friday night, the restaurant was full of people. There were a lot of couples there on dates. It took a while to get to the front counter and order.

Uncle Sam led us to a small table in the far corner. Next to us was a pair of teenagers who were holding hands and looking in each other's eyes. The girl picked up her spoon and fed the boy a bite of her ice cream, and then they leaned forward and kissed.

"Ewww," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

"Do you think that's what Daddy and Lisa are doing?" I teased.

Ben frowned at me. "Ew, no, gross! Shut up!"

"I was just kidding," I muttered, feeling hurt.

"Ben, don't say shut up, that's rude," Uncle Sam said.

"Sorry," Ben muttered. He shifted on his chair after a minute. "Hey, I gotta do the science fair at my school next week, will you guys come and see it?"

"Sure, Ben, that sounds interesting," Uncle Sam said, "I did a couple of science fairs when I was younger. What's your project?"

They spent a long time talking about science stuff, and I got bored. "Can we go now?" I asked, "I'm done, and listening to you guys talk is bor-ing."

"Science can be fun, Charlie," Uncle Sam said, "Once we decide if we're going to stay here or not, we can maybe try and set up some long-term science experiments."

"Science is bor-ing," I rolled my eyes, "I'd rather read."

When we got back to the motel, Ben and I started to play together on our 3Ds games. We sat on opposite ends of the sofa, facing each other so that our games could "see" each other.

Uncle Sam got a call from Grandpa John, and he set his laptop up at the table. Grandpa John was at a library doing research.

"Okay, I'm looking at the site...yeah, I see the table...electrical storms. This is all from the past couple of weeks? Yeah, it does seem like it's ramping up," Uncle Sam glanced over at us.

Ben and I were playing a game where you made a character and then had to travel through levels finding and getting different things like gems and flowers and mushrooms. Each item was worth a certain amount of points. Some of them were rare, and worth a lot more points.

"Hey!" I said to Ben, "You got the last mushroom, lemme get that one!"

Ben made his character run ahead of mine and grabbed the mushroom. "All right, 20 points!" he said gleefully.

"Not fair!" I grumped, "you better not do that again!" Just then another mushroom appeared. I tried to make my character run faster than his, but he made his character jump over me.

"HEY!" I yelled as he grabbed the mushroom, "Cut it OUT!" I kicked my leg at him in frustration. "That's not FAIR!"

"Hey!" Ben kicked me back, "I can't help it if you're just a slowpoke!"

"Charlie and Ben!" Uncle Sam's voice was loud and deep, and it startled me. His voice was big when he got loud.

We both looked over at him. He was frowning. "What's going on over there?" he asked.

"Ben keeps stealing the mushrooms, he- he's not playing fair!" I complained.

"It's fair, you just gotta be fast," Ben shrugged.

Uncle Sam sighed. "Since I don't really know what you're talking about in the game, I can't comment. But I better not see either of you kicking each other again. And stop being so loud, I'm on the phone and I can barely hear Grandpa John."

I glared at Ben and he stuck his tongue out at me. We played for another couple of minutes, and then he kept making his character run ahead and get things before I could.

"You're mean, I'm not playing any more!" I turned the game off and closed it, slamming it down on the coffee table.

"Hey!" Ben yelled, "You can't just quit like that, we just got to the next level! I'm gonna lose my points!"

"Tough!" I yelled back, "I can quit 'cause you're being a meany!"

"Jerk!" Ben leaned over and pushed my shoulder.

"Hey!" I lifted my hand to push him back, and all of a sudden Uncle Sam was there, taking my hand.

"All right, stop," he said sternly, "do both of you need to be in trouble?"

I gulped. "N-no, Uncle Sam."

"I've already talked to you about being loud, and it needs to stop. And keep your hands—and feet—to yourselves," Uncle Sam turned to Ben and gave him a look. Ben blushed.

"Put the game away since you can't stop bickering, and find a movie to watch." Uncle Sam picked up the remote and turned on the tv.

"Hey, Transformers!" Ben sat forward, "They're cool, let's watch that!"

"Transformers are dumb, who wants to watch a show about robots?" I jeered.

"No they aren't!" Ben flared.

"Yuh-huh!" I said, shoving his shoulder.

"ENOUGH!" Uncle Sam boomed. Both Ben and I shrank down. Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips. "Charlie, go get ready for bed."

"Whyyy?" I whined, "It's Friday, I get to stay up late!"

"I just told you to keep your hands to yourself, and here you are pushing Ben right after I said that!"

"Daddy said I could stay up late!" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"I'm sure he meant if you behaved yourself," Uncle Sam gave me a look, "Young lady, what did I tell you to do?"

"Fine!" I got up and stomped into the bedroom. I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, then came back out to the living room.

"I'll let you watch the third Harry Potter movie," Uncle Sam said, "Ben likes them too. But if either of you start bickering again, that's it."

"Okaaay," I went and sat down on the sofa again.

Ben grinned at me and said quietly, "Young lady!"

"Stop it!" I hissed, but I knew he was teasing.

We both fell asleep on the sofa, and the next thing I knew, Daddy and Lisa were there. Daddy carried Ben out to Lisa's car, and Uncle Sam carried me to my bed.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Grandpa John got very involved in doing lots of research. I heard him talking to Daddy and Uncle Sam about "signs are starting to crop up again," but Daddy wouldn't explain what that meant. I saw a photo on Uncle Sam's laptop of a cow that was all torn up and bloody, so I figured they were trying to hunt some creature.

Daddy and I spent time with Ben and Lisa, getting together every couple of days. We went out to eat a lot because it was fall, and getting dark earlier. Sometimes Uncle Sam came with us, but he was helping Grandpa John a lot. Sometimes they drove to libraries that were a couple of towns over to look things up. There were lots and lots of newspapers and books and stacks of papers all over their room now.

Daddy had driven his car around to the back of the motel so he could change all the fluids. He said he had to "top everything off" before the weather got too much colder. He didn't want me to help this time because he said some of the stuff he was working with was dangerous. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were in their room doing research and talking on the phone to people. I was watching t.v. and lounging on the sofa.

Daddy came into the room. "Come on, kid, let's go to the park," he said. He was wearing a dark blue shirt that I had never seen him wear before.

"Okay!" I said happily. I slipped my shoes on and went with him.

I quickly fell into step beside him, he was walking fast. I reached for his hand, and he jerked his hand away and looked down at me.

"What're you doing?" he asked.

"Holding hands," I said, feeling a little hurt. We usually held hands when we walked places together.

"Oh," he gave me his hand, and we walked in silence.

"Daddy, where'd you get that shirt?" I asked him, "You haven't worn it before."

"Well, I, uh...went shopping the other day," he said quickly.

I didn't remember him going shopping recently, and I was going to say something, but we arrived at the park. I dropped his hand and ran to the swings.

"Daddy, push me, please!" I called to him.

He stood under the tree off to the side, looking around.

"Daddy, pleeeeease?" I wheedled, "come push me!"

"No, girlie, I'm good here," he glanced around again. It seemed like he was looking for someone. I noticed that his pants were different too, they were a light tan color. He was standing differently too, his hands were in his pockets and his shoulders were different.

Some other kids came on to the playground, and I started to play tag with them. We ran around a lot, until I was huffing and puffing, and then I noticed that Daddy wasn't under the tree any more.

"Daddy?" I called, looking around. Where had he gone?

Just then I saw him, walking up the sidewalk towards the playground. He looked angry.

"Daddy, where did you go!" I exclaimed, running towards him.

He stalked towards me, and grabbed my arm, bending down and pulling me close to him. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?" he gritted out, "Coming here on your own?"

I looked up at him. "I—I wasn't on my own, you were with me! You- you asked if I wanted to go!"

"Now you're going to make up a story?" Daddy smacked my butt, so hard I stumbled forward.

I cried out and reached back to cover my butt with my hands. Tears came to my eyes as my butt began to sting. He straightened up and started to pull me along.

"Let's go," he said tersely.

"Daddy, slow down!" I said, "Wait! You said let's go to the park!" I looked up at him, and I realized something. "When did you change your shirt?" Now he was wearing the same red and green plaid shirt he'd been wearing earlier in the day.

"What are you talking about?" his teeth were clenched, and a muscle jumped in his cheek.

"Your shirt was different!" I told him.

He stopped, and leaned down. His eyes flashed green fire at me. "Stop- with- the- lies," he said, "You're just getting yourself in more trouble, little girl. When we get back to the room, you're getting a spanking, and you can bet that you'll be getting the paddle as well."

Tears filled my eyes. "But Daddy-"

He gave me a shake. "I don't want to hear any more!"

Something was wrong. Daddy had brought me to the park, and now he was acting like he hadn't. I didn't understand what was going on, and I didn't want to be in trouble, or get paddled. I hurried along with Daddy as he walked, trying to figure out what to say to him to convince him that I wasn't lying.


	63. Chapter 63

We walked into the motel room, and Daddy pointed. "Go stand in the corner."

"But Daddy-"

He smacked my butt again. "Charlie, I am tired of you thinking you can go where ever you want, when ever you want. You are going to learn that you have to follow the rules, once and for all!" His voice was loud and angry.

Tears came to my eyes as I backed away from him. Uncle Sam came to the open door between his room and our room. "What's up?" he asked.

"I was on the phone with Lisa making plans to go to a pumpkin patch this weekend and went to check with Charlie...come to find out she just up and left, went over to the playground on her own!" Daddy pulled his phone out.

"Daddy, I didn't-"

"BE QUIET!" Daddy yelled at me. I jumped, and hurried over to the corner, starting to cry.

"I've got to call her and let her know I found Charlie, she was worried. And I need a few minutes to calm down before I deal with her," Daddy said, nodding his head at me.

I walked to the corner and wiped my face as tears dripped down my cheeks. Daddy was so angry with me, but I hadn't done anything wrong. How was I going to tell him what had happened and convince him that I was telling the truth?

"Hey, Lisa, it's me. I found her—what?" he paused, "Your friend De—are you okay?" Daddy's voice got deeper like when he was very serious, "Lisa, hang on, don't say or do anything suspicious, got it? I'll be right over," I heard his phone beep, and then he called, "Sam? SAM! Come on, we've got to go!"

I turned from where I was standing in the corner. Daddy had gone into our bedroom, and when he came back out he had his gun in his hands.

Uncle Sam came into the room, followed by Grandpa John. "What's going on, Dean?"

"I just called Lisa...and she said, 'I can't talk right now, my friend Dean just walked in,'" Daddy gave Uncle Sam a look and they did their 'talking without words' thing.

"Grab your gun and let's go," Daddy said.

"It's in the car," Uncle Sam replied.

"Do you have holy water, just in case?" Grandpa John asked.

"Yeah, we do," Daddy's voice was abrupt, "We'll be back."

He and Uncle Sam left the room, and Grandpa John walked over and turned the dead bolt on the door.

I turned all the way around, starting to cry harder. "Grandpa John, what's going on? What did Lisa mean?"

"Come here, darlin'," Grandpa John opened his arms to me. I ran to him and he picked me up and held me, "It's all right," he soothed.

"No it's not! Something weird is happening! Daddy took me to the park earlier, but then he said he didn't! He- he was wearing different clothes!"

Grandpa John walked over to the sofa and sat down, putting me in his lap.

"Tell me exactly what happened," he said. He had a serious look on his face as I talked.

"Daddy came into the room and asked me if I wanted to go to the playground. We walked there, and he didn't- he didn't want to hold my hand at first. And I noticed- he was wearing a different shirt! I asked him about it and he said that he had gone shopping recently, but I know he hasn't."

"How was he acting? Did he sound different?"

"He was acting...not like himself. I asked him to push me on the swings and he said no. He was standing by himself, looking around. It was like he was looking for someone. Oh, and he called me 'girlie'. He's never called me that before!"

Grandpa John looked at me. "Did he talk to anyone, or did anyone else show up?"

I shook my head. "Just some kids and their moms, and I played with them. Daddy stood by himself the whole time. Oh, and he was wearing tan pants too. And then he was gone, and I saw him walking up the sidewalk, and he had on the shirt that he had on earlier! And he yelled at me about coming to the park by myself!" Tears filled my eyes again, "I didn't, though! He took me there!"

I looked up at Grandpa John. "Do you believe me?"

He rubbed my back. "Yes, I do," he said.

"What's happening?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Well... I'm not sure, so I don't want to say anything yet. It will be okay."

"Is there—is there a monster that can look like other people? Is that who went over to Lisa's, a supernatural creature who looks just like Daddy?" A thought occurred to me, and I got scared, "Was that- was that who took me to the park?" I looked up at Grandpa John again. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

"It was, wasn't it!" I started to cry harder, "What is it? Is it gonna hurt Lisa and Ben?"

"Shhh, Charlie," Grandpa John hugged me, rocking me back and forth.

We sat together until I had calmed down, and then he pulled back and looked at me. "Are you hungry? It's past dinnertime."

"Yeah." I got off of his lap.

We went over to the kitchen and he made grilled cheese sandwiches and scrambled eggs for dinner. Afterwards, we sat and watched cooking shows on t.v.

"It's time for you to get ready for bed," Grandpa John said eventually.

"Can we call Daddy so I can say good-night to him?"

"No, that's not a good idea, I don't want to interrupt him if he's in the middle of something."

I sighed and got up. When I had changed into my pjs and done my nightly routine, I came back over to Grandpa John. "I don't want to go to bed yet, I don't want to lay in bed by myself. I'll just worry the whole time. Can I stay here with you? Please?" I leaned on his leg.

"All right, you can sit with me for a while, but I want you to close your eyes."

I sat down next to him. We watched another cooking contest, and then he patted my shoulder.

"Lay down, and close your eyes now."

I laid down and put my head on his thigh, and he began to rub my back and hum quietly. I was tired, and I felt myself starting to fall asleep.

I woke up in bed, hearing Grandpa John talking in the living room. "-scanner just reported another 24 hour pharmacy was held up, on the corner of Washington Avenue and Littleton Street. Yeah, over near the hospital. He's moving south. Just watch yourself, you don't want to get caught by the cops. Do what you need to and get the hell out of there. All right, I will. Bye."

I heard him moving around, and got out of bed to stand at the door. "Grandpa John, what's happening?"

He turned and looked at me. "We're going to have to leave, darlin'," he said, "I've got to get everything packed up."

"Wh-why do we have to leave?" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"I'll explain later. Right now, you need to either go back to bed, or pack your things." His voice was no-nonsense.

"I'm already all packed," I said, "Daddy says to always be packed up."

"Good. Back to bed for now," He went into the room he and Uncle Sam were sharing. I sighed and went back to my bed, getting under the covers and laying down. I was worried about Daddy and Uncle Sam, and Lisa and Ben.

"Charlie, wake up," Grandpa John shook my shoulder, "Come on, wake up."

I rolled over and looked at him, "Is Daddy home yet?"

"No, he's not," he pulled on my arm, "Come on, we need to go."

I sat up. "Where are we going?"

"We need to leave now," Grandpa John stood up, "You don't have to get dressed, you can go back to sleep in the truck if you want to."

"But what about Daddy? And Uncle Sam? Are they coming too?" I asked worriedly.

"We'll meet them later. Your Dad...has some things to take care of."

"What things?" I looked up at Grandpa John, but he wouldn't meet my eyes, "How will they know where we're going? How will they know where to meet us?"

"I'll be in touch. Your Dad and Sam will let me know when they've finished what they're doing."

"But what are they doing? Is it the monster that looked like Daddy? Are they going after it?"

"Charlie-"

"How come nobody ever tells me anything!" I said frustratedly, folding my arms.

"Because you don't need to know everything, little girl. And there are some things that you are safer not knowing about."

"Safer? What do you me-"

"I'm not discussing it any further. Get up and get ready to go. Use the restroom and get your shoes on," Grandpa John's voice was no-nonsense again.

I sighed and got out of bed. He picked up my Hello Kitty pillows and blanket. "I'll take these out to my truck," he told me.

After I was done in the bathroom, I picked up my bag with my drawing stuff and my backpack with my toys, and carried them out to the living room. There was a box that looked kinda like a radio that's in a car, sitting on the coffee table. It made a static buzzing noise, and then I heard a voice speak, "Lost sight of suspect. Searching blocks between Eighth Street and Union."

There was a crackling sound, and a buzz, and another voice said, "Vehicle has been located, blood spatter noted on the front driver's seat and dashboard. Forensic unit en route."

The door opened and Grandpa John came in. I looked up at him. "That radio thing said that there was blood in a car. Is it Daddy's car? What is that about?"

Grandpa John grimaced. "It's a police scanner. What did you hear them say?"

"Uh, lost sight of, um...suspect? That they were searching some streets? And then another person said they found a vehicle and there was blood on the driver's seat, and that forensic unit was on its way? What's that?" I frowned.

Grandpa John stepped over and turned the scanner off. "Don't worry about it, Charlie."

"Stop saying that!" I stomped my foot, "Were they talking about Daddy? Why was there blood? What's Daddy doing? I want to know!" I burst into tears and sank down on the sofa. "I—just—want-my-Daddy!" I wailed.

Grandpa John came over to me and picked me up. "Shh, sweetheart. They weren't talking about your Dad, all right? I know that for a fact. He's all right, and he's safe."

"I wanna talk to him!" I sobbed.

"Well...you can't right now, he's busy. I promise you, next time he calls, I'll let you talk, all right?" He wiped my face with the tail of his flannel.

"Okay," I sniffled, "Promise?"

"Yes," he said, "did you use the rest room? We ready?"

"Yeah."

He set me down on the floor, and then walked to the door of the bedroom I had shared with Daddy. After glancing around, he nodded, and then came back over to me.

"Let's go," he said. I followed him out to his giant truck and he lifted me into the passenger seat. It was dark outside, and seemed like it was the middle of the night.

I woke up hearing his phone ring. I sat up, blinking my eyes. I had fallen asleep leaning against the door, and my neck was sore. Sunlight was streaming in on my side, and I was hot too. I rubbed my face and pushed my fleece blanket down.

"Yeah? How did it go? You took care of...it was? All right. Yeah, we're almost out of Ohio," Grandpa John was saying. He glanced at me, "Yeah, she's awake. Want to talk to her?"

I leaned over and held my hand out. Grandpa John put the phone into my hand. "Daddy?" I said.

"Hi, Charlie," he said, and I burst into tears again.

"Daddy where are you? Are you okay? What happened? Were you chasing a monster? Are Lisa and Ben okay?" I babbled.

"Shh, baby, shh," Daddy said soothingly, "slow down. I'm fine. We're on our way, about three or four hours behind you. All right?" His voice sounded hoarse.

"What were you and Uncle Sam doing?" I sniffed.

"I'll tell you all about it when we get there," he said, "Be good for Grandpa John, okay?"

"I will. You're okay, you didn't get hurt? Or Uncle Sam?"

He chuckled. "We're both fine. We'll see you soon, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, Daddy," I said, handing the phone back to Grandpa John.

He put the phone back to his ear. "I don't know if we're going to stop for the night or not, depends how far we get, it's only about 12 hours. All right, I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, I'll call you later. All right, bye." He disconnected and put his phone in his shirt pocket.

"He reminded me that you're not used to being in the car for long stretches of time, like he was," Grandpa John chuckled, "How are you doing, do you need a rest room break?"

"Yeah, and I'm hungry," I said, "what time is it?"

"It's about 2 o'clock," he told me, "I don't want to stop for a sit down meal, I want to stay on the road for now. We can stop tonight."

"Where are we going?"

"Upstate New York, I have a friend who has a cabin there," Grandpa John said.

"Why are we going there?"

"For...a little vacation," Grandpa John said, "There's an exit coming up with restaurants, what do you want to eat?"

We stopped at a McDonald's to use the rest room and get food. After I was finished eating I got out my 3Ds and played until the power was low. We stopped again for a bathroom break and for Grandpa John to get coffee. I got out my Language Arts textbook and read some more of the stories that were in it.

By the time Grandpa John said we were stopping for the night, it was dark. We went through another drive-through for dinner, and then Grandpa John found a motel. He rented a room that had two big beds in it and a sofa-bed. We brought our duffles into the room, and he dropped his and went into the bathroom. I walked over to look at the t.v.

I heard the rumbly sound of a car engine in the parking lot, and ran to the door, turning the dead bolt and throwing open the door. I sounded just like Daddy's car! I heard the bathroom door open behind me.

"Daddy!" I said excitedly, stepping out of the room.

"Charlotte Anne Winchester!" Grandpa John's voice was loud. I felt his hand on the back of my neck, and he jerked me back into the room by the shirt collar. The door slammed closed, and he grabbed my arm and turned me, landing a couple of hard swats on my rear.

"Do NOT open the door like that ever again, little girl!" his voice was deep and loud like Uncle Sam's.

I hadn't expected him to grab me like that or swat me, and all I wanted to for Daddy to come back. I burst into tears. "M' sorry!" I wailed, "I thought it was D-daddy!"

"You're not supposed to open the door, though, are you, you have a rule about that?"

I nodded, sniffling, "M'sorry," I repeated, reaching back to rub out the sting.

Grandpa John sighed, and then he picked me up and held me. "I know you're worried about your Dad, he'll be here soon," he took my chin and made me raise my head and look at him, "But don't you ever open the door and run out like that again, or you'll be in trouble, is that clear?"

I swallowed nervously. "Yes, Grandpa John," I said.

"Good," he nodded, and let go of my chin. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he carried me over to the sofa and sat down with me. I tried to stop crying but my eyes kept filling with tears. I curled up in Grandpa John's lap and he held me until I fell asleep, my chest hitching every so often.

I woke up when I heard the door close. I sat up- I was tucked in bed- and saw Daddy and Uncle Sam standing by the door.

"Daddy!" I launched myself off the bed. He dropped his duffle and came towards me, catching me in his arms and hugging me tightly. I wrapped my arms around him and started crying again. "Daddy I missed you! I was so scared for you and Uncle Sam! Are you okay?"

I felt him stroking the back of my head, and he said, "We're fine, we're okay now."

Uncle Sam came over to us and leaned over to hug me. I let go of Daddy with one arm and hugged Uncle Sam, and he kissed my cheek.

I pulled back to look at them. "What happened? Who was at Lisa's? Was it someone who looked like you?"

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow," Daddy said, "Let's get some sleep, I'm exhausted."

Daddy did look tired, he had stubble on his face and dark circles under his eyes.

He carried me over to the bed and started to put me down, and I clung to him. "Lay with me, Daddy, I want to be with you!"

He sighed, and sat down, leaning against the headboard. I curled up against him, sliding my arm around his chest, and fell asleep again. I felt better now that he and Uncle Sam were with us.

In the morning, Grandpa John and I went out to get breakfast and brought it back to the room. Daddy and Uncle Sam slept until mid-morning. When they woke up, they ate, and then took showers.

I sat with Daddy while Uncle Sam was in the bathroom.

"Will you tell me what happened yesterday?" I asked, looking up at him.

He looked over at Grandpa John, who gave a little nod.

"All right, Charlie," Daddy said, "There's a type of supernatural creature called a shape-shifter. They can change their body to look like someone else. That's what—what was at Lisa's house."

"Why do they do that?"

"Well, uh, to try and take over the person's life sometimes."

"Why?"

"Uh, I don't know, Charlie, we don't often know why a creature does what it does."

"Daddy, I think it was the person who took me to the park yesterday." I felt scared, that he wouldn't believe me, and also that I had possibly been in contact with it.

Daddy got a worried look on his face. "Yes, Charlie, the shifter came...to our motel, and took you to the park. I'm so sorry I didn't believe you, and that I got mad and yelled at you," he hugged me for a moment, "When you- disappear, my first thought is—fear, and worry, and I deal with that by getting angry. I'm sorry I didn't stop and think, sweetheart."

I felt even more scared as I said, "Why did he take me there? What was he going to do? He was acting like he was looking for someone, was there someone else?"

Daddy looked uncomfortable now. "I don't know, Charlie, he may have just been trying to mess with me, and scare me. Which he succeeded at."

"Why did we have to leave? Why were the police chasing someone? They found a car with blood in it!"

Grandpa John spoke up. "Charlie overheard some action on the police scanner," he told Daddy.

Daddy grimaced. "Well, Uncle Sam and I went after the shifter, to confront it...and he started to rob some stores. The police were after him...we got to him first."

A look passed between Grandpa John and Daddy. "We had to leave because the police think it was me doing the robberies, and they were looking for me." Daddy said.

"But...can't you tell them it wasn't you?"

He shook his head. "No, they wouldn't believe me."

"What happened to it? Did it get caught by the police?"

Daddy sighed. "No, we...Uncle Sam and I...took care of it."

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, "Did you...kill it?"

Daddy closed his eyes for a moment, and then nodded. "Yes, we did, Charlie. If we hadn't, it would have gone on to someone else and tried to ruin their life. It wasn't good, and it needed to be stopped."

"But why did it do that?"

"I don't know. Some creatures are like that, just like some people are not nice, and they're mean all the time."

I hugged him tightly. "I'm glad you're okay, and Uncle Sam is too," I thought of something, and pulled back to look at him again, "What about Lisa, and Ben? Did it hurt them? Are they okay? Does Lisa know what happened?"

Daddy looked even more uncomfortable. "They're okay. I told Lisa what happened. She...knows we had to leave."

"But- what happens now? Can we go back? I thought we were gonna have Thanksgiving with them!" We had talked about having Thanksgiving dinner at Lisa's house, and she was going to show Daddy and Uncle Sam how to cook a turkey with all the trimmings, and we were going to make Christmas cookies.

"Well, we can't go back there right now, because the police are still looking for me. We're going to spend some time at a log cabin that a friend of the family has, it's in the woods, and it's really neat," Daddy said, "There's deer that come into the front yard and eat the bushes every morning, and a stream near the house that has fish and all kinds of critters living in it."

Uncle Sam had come out of the bathroom and was listening to Daddy. "We should go out and get some supplies."

"We will," Grandpa John said.

"But what about Thanksgiving? Ben and me were gonna do crafts and stuff when we were there!" I said.

"We can figure something out," Uncle Sam walked over to his duffle and pulled a flannel on over his t-shirt, "When do you want to leave?"

"After we go to the store," Grandpa John said.

"How long will it take to get there? I'm tired of being in the car!" I complained.

"I saw a park with a playground not too far from here, why don't I take you while they're shopping?" Daddy rubbed my back.

"Yeah!" I said happily. I got up and went to get dressed. Daddy and I drove in his car to the park- it had a walking path with lots of trees that were changing colors, and a huge playground. There was a smalled playground off to the side for babies and toddlers. It was busy, and there were lots of people and kids roaming around. Daddy pushed me on the swings for a while, and then he went to sit on a bench. I climbed on the monkey bars two times, and then I got a prickly sensation on the back of my neck.

I turned and saw the man in the tan rain coat that I had seen before. He was standing near Daddy, looking at him. I started to walk over to them.

"Dean Winchester," the man said in a gravelly voice, "Where is your progeny?"

Daddy frowned, standing up. "My what? Who the hell are you?"

I walked over to Daddy's side, and he put his arm around me and pulled me against him, holding on tightly to my shoulder.

"My name is Castiel, and I am an angel of the Lord," the man said, "I have come to tell you that there are demons searching for you. They are searching for the child, because of her abilities-"

Daddy stepped towards Castiel, "Keep your voice down, for crap's sake!" he hissed, glancing around.

Castiel looked around too, the same way Daddy had, "Why do I need to keep my voice down?" he hissed, mimicking Daddy's voice.

"Talking about demons and—psychic abilites on a playground full of kids isn't exactly a good idea!" Daddy snapped.

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk?" Castiel asked. He looked around again, and said, "Of course, humans prefer privacy."

And then all of a sudden, we were sitting in the Impala! All three of us were crammed in the front seat together, Castiel between me and Daddy.

"What the hell?" Daddy yelled, "How did you do that?"

"I told you, Dean Winchester, I am an angel of the Lord. I have powers," Castiel said calmly, "You must stop teaching your progeny how to use and strengthen her abilities, because it has brought her to the attention of certain demons, and they will be-"

"Demons?" I asked, feeling scared, "You mean like devils from h-e-double hockey sticks?"

Castiel turned his head to look at me. "Not devils, no. Demons are a lower class of-"

Daddy interrupted him. "Okay, we don't need a class on the differences between spiritual beings, can we not have this discussion right now?"

Castiel turned back to Daddy, "You need to know about this, because the danger is growing-"

"I'm in danger?" I asked, getting panicked.

"Dude! What did I just say?" Daddy yelled, "Talking about this in front of her is not a good idea!"

Castiel reached towards me, two fingers extended. "Would you like for me to remove your abili-"

"Don't touch her, man!" Daddy slapped Castiel's hand away from me.

"I am only attempting to help-"

Daddy glowered at him. "First off, I don't even know who you are, I've never met an angel before, and I've never heard of one called- Cas-"

"Castiel."

"Castiel, and I don't even know if that's what you really are, so if you'd get the hell out of here and away from us I'd appreciate it."

Suddenly I reached out and took Castiel's hand. I looked at him and I saw his wings unfurling behind him, and they were huge and white and glorious, and then my mind was filled with a glowing rainbow, but it was like when you look through a prism and can see all the colors separate from each other. My head buzzed with energy.

"What the hell?" I felt Daddy's hand grabbing my hand away from Castiel's. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me?" he yelled at me.

"You must not touch me like that without warning, Dean's progeny," Castiel said to me, "If you looked on my true face it would blind you or further injure you."

"I-I'm sorry," I said timidly. I looked over at Daddy. "He's telling the truth, he is a angel."

"What?!" Daddy gaped at me, "Holy- what th-" he raked his hands through his hair. "All right, let's think about this," he muttered, looking down for a moment. He looked at Castiel. "I need to talk to some people first, and find out about you—and angels-"

Castiel cocked his head slightly. "What would you like to know? I can give you information-"

"I still don't trust you, all right?" Daddy interrupted, "It's great that you're an angel and all, but I've never met one before, and as far as I know, no other hunter ever has either, so I'm in a little bit of shock here."

"I told you, it's because of your-"

"I know what you told me—and I want to talk to some people first," Daddy leaned forward and looked at me, "Go ahead and get in the back, Charlie, we're going to go back to the room and talk to Grandpa John, and maybe call Bobby and Missouri too."

"Okay, Daddy," I started to open the door.

Castiel looked at me. "Why does the child have to sit in the back?"

"Safety regulations," Daddy said, "It's safer for kids to ride in the back seat of cars—man, why do you even care?"

"I have been charged with watching over you, Dean Winchester, and since she is your child, I am charged with watching over her too."

"So you're like my guardian angel?" I asked him, getting out and opening the back door. He slid over and got out of the car too, and then got into the back seat next to me.

"Yes, I am," he told me simply.

"What are you- I guess you're coming with us," Daddy said, "Well, buckle up," he told Castiel.

I buckled my seat belt, with Castiel watching. He glanced around, looking for his seat belt, and then tried to put it on, fumbling with the clasp. I reached over and buckled his seat belt on, and he watched me.

"I believe it is customary to say thank you," he said, looking at my face, "Thank you."

I laughed. "You're funny," I said, "You're welcome."

I turned to look out the window. When I looked over again he was still looking at me, as if he was studying me.

"What?" I asked.

"Uh, Mr. Angel, it's uh, not polite to stare," Daddy said to him.

"It is interesting," Castiel tilted his head slightly, "Your DNA is exactly like the Winchester's on your father's side, but on your mother's there is a mutation on the fourth strand-"

"We don't need a biology lesson here-" Daddy started.

"A mutation?" I asked, "What kind? How?"

"It started a couple of generations ago, your ancestor was exposed to chemicals during a war, I believe? He was also given more chemicals under the guise of treating a war-time illness, and that caused the mutation. In your mother's DNA, it changed her ability. Every generation in your family has some sort of extrasensory ability, but in your mother's, the mutation caused her to develop cancer instead of an ability, and your aunt developed lycanthropy instead."

I was shocked. "My- my mommy was s'posed to have abilities like me?" I asked, feeling tears come to my eyes, "Does that mean I'm gonna get cancer too? Or ly—lycan- what'd you say?"

"Lycanthropy. No, you do not have any mutations that will cause cancer or any other abilities. Yours are already established, and you must take caution in exercising-"

"Dude, what did I say before?" Daddy snapped.

"It needs to be discussed, Dean Winchester," Castiel said firmly.

"And it will be, just not in front of her," Daddy jerked his head at me.

Castiel looked at me again. I looked back at him. "Why do you wear that raincoat, even when it's not raining?"

He glanced down. "This is my vessel's outfit," he said, "I do not—notice it. Is it not correct? I thought that human men wore suits and ties-"

"Well, sometimes, just not all the time. And a guy on a playground wearing a long raincoat, yeah, he kinda tends to stand out," Daddy said.

"Oh," Castiel appeared confused, "Should I change my vessels' attire?"

"You could," Daddy said.

"Why do you say your vessel?" I asked him.

He looked at me again. "This is not my true form, as you know. I am using this human as a vessel to be able to communicate with other humans."

"You are? How? Did he- did he let you?"

"Yes, he did."

"How?" I asked.

"He invited me in," Castiel said.

"People can do that? Invite a angel into their body?" I was curious.

"Yes, if your faith is strong enough, you can-"

"Uh-uh," Daddy interrupted, "Charlie, you don't need to know about that. Look, dude, I appreciate that you want to—share all this information with us, but can you just keep your mouth shut for now? There's a lot of things that Charlie doesn't need to know yet, and I don't want you telling her those things."

"All right, I will keep my mouth shut," Castiel said. He continued to look at me, and I noticed that he wasn't blinking.

"Why don't you blink?" I asked.

Castiel didn't answer me for a long moment. He looked up front at Daddy and nodded his head towards him.

"Oh," I said, "Daddy, tell him he can talk again!"

Daddy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh my God, do we have an angel that's a kid here? You can talk, just not about- about supernatural stuff or spiritual stuff or-or DNA!"

"I do not need to blink," Castiel said to me.

"But people blink," I told him, "It might make your eyes feel funny if you don't blink."

"I will take that under advisement, Dean's progeny," he said.

"Uh, her name is Charlie," Daddy glanced back at us, "Not 'Dean's progeny'."

"Her name is Charlotte Anne Winchester," Castiel said, "Why do you call her Charlie? That is not her name."

"It's a nickname," Daddy explained.

"Lots of people have nicknames," I told the angel.

"What is the point of a nickname if you already have a name?" Castiel's brow furrowed in a frown.

" 'Cause I don't like Charlotte."

"Why do you not like the name Charlotte?"

"Cause the kids in my first grade class called me 'Charlotte Spider' after we read Charlotte's Web."

"You—read- a spider's web? How fascinating."

"No, silly, it's a book about a spider named Charlotte!"

"Oh. I still do not understand why this caused you to not like the name Charlotte."

" 'Cause they were- they were teasing me!"

"And teasing- is a bad thing?" Castiel's frown deepened.

"Yes!"

"So this—teasing-caused you to feel negatively about the name that your mother gave you when you were born."

"Yeah."

"I do not understand humans," he muttered, turning his head to look out the window.


	64. Chapter 64

When we pulled into the parking space in front of the motel room, Grandpa John and Uncle Sam were just getting out of the truck. Castiel and I got out of the back of the car. Grandpa John and Uncle Sam looked at Daddy questioningly as we all walked towards the door.

"You, stay here," Daddy said to Castiel. He unlocked the door and the rest of us went into the room.

"Aww, Daddy, I want to talk to him some more!" I complained.

"Who is that, Dean?" Uncle Sam asked with suspicion.

"He's a angel, Uncle Sam! He's my guardian angel!" I told him.

Uncle Sam gave me a look. "An angel?" he said skeptically, "Charlie, you know better than to make up stories. What's the consequence for lying?" he asked sternly.

"Uncle Sam, I'm not lying! Why would I lie, I'm not dumb ya know!" I stomped my foot. "I saw it, when I held his hand!"

"You held his-" Grandpa John raised his eyebrow, "You say you saw it? How? I mean, what did it-he- look like?"

"I saw his wings, they were really really big! And then it was like everything was a rainbow but it was all glowy and the colors were apart, and I felt this—buzzing, like, energy," I explained.

Grandpa John, Uncle Sam, and Daddy all looked at each other, and it was like all three of them were doing the 'talking without words' thing!

"I'll call Bobby, see what he's got in the lore," Uncle Sam pulled out his phone.

"I'll call Missouri," Grandpa John said. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Uncle Sam walked over to the table and turned on his laptop.

I went over to Daddy. "Can I tell Castiel to come inside?" I asked.

Daddy looked down at me. "No, not yet," he put his hand on my head, "You really—saw-his wings, and all?"

I nodded. "It was really cool!"

Daddy raised his eyebrows. "Well..." he said, sounding skeptical.

"-I found the site, I'll take a look. Thanks, Bobby," Uncle Sam hung up his phone and looked over at us, "He said he's never heard of any sort of tests for angels, but he'll look through his library for any info, and he gave me a couple of sites to look at."

"Good," Daddy exhaled.

Grandpa John came out of the bathroom. "Missouri said that there's no test she knows of, and if Charlie saw that he was an angel, then that's what he is." Grandpa John told Daddy.

"Well then," Daddy clapped his hands together, "I guess we talk to this—angel, and see what he wants." He walked over to the door and I followed him.

Daddy opened the door and nodded. Castiel was standing right there in the doorway, looking at us.

"You can come in," Daddy stepped back. Castiel walked in, and Daddy shut the door behind him.

Castiel walked over near the table where Uncle Sam was sitting, and looked at all of us.

"Charlie, I want you over near Grandpa John," Daddy told me.

"But Daddy, I want talk to him," I protested.

"Not until I can ascertain if he's really what he says he is, and that he's safe," Daddy said.

Castiel turned towards Daddy. "I am an angel of the Lord, Dean Winchester, and I can assure you I mean you and your progeny no harm."

There was a flash of lightning in the room and we saw his wings spread out behind him in shadow, they reached almost all the way across the room. It was amazing and a little bit scary. All of us gasped.

"Jesus Christ," Daddy breathed in an awed voice.

"No, Castiel," Castiel looked at all of us, "I do not know what else I can do to prove to you that I am who I say I am."

"See, he is a angel, Daddy," I looked up at him.

Daddy sighed. "All right," he said, "I'm still not gonna trust you 100 percent right now though." He walked over to his duffle and got out a flat silver bottle, then walked over and handed it to Castiel.

"Drink some," he said.

Castiel removed the cap and took a drink, then placed the cap back on. He handed the bottle to Daddy. "The priest who blessed that holy water was not a true shepherd. He drank the communion wine in secret, stole from the collection plate, and had a large collection of photographs of-"

"All right, enough," Daddy interrupted him, holding up his hand, "That's something we don't need to hear about."

"What do you want?" Grandpa John came over towards the table, "What are you here for? Usually when supernatural beings contact humans, there's a specific reason, or they want something."

"I am here to protect the child," Castiel nodded at me, "and to warn you about her using and strengthening her abilities, which are like a beacon to demo-"

"Wait-" Daddy held both his hands up, but Grandpa John looked shocked. "What did you say?" he demanded with a frown, advancing closer to Castiel, who didn't look like he was intimidated at all.

He looked at Grandpa John, "The demon you have been searching for is now aware of her, and he may try and-"

"NO," Daddy said in a loud voice, "We're not talking about that here," he turned to me, "Charlie, I want you to go into the bathroom. I don't want you overhearing anything we talk about."

"But Daddy-"

"No, little girl," Daddy walked over to me and pointed, "Go in there and wait until one of us comes to get you. Take your 3DS in there or something else to keep you busy."

I sighed, and got off the bed. I grabbed my 3Ds off the bedside table and went into the bathroom, sitting on the closed toilet seat. Daddy closed the door.

I tried to listen by holding my ear up to the door. That didn't work, so I crouched down on the floor on my hands and knees and put my head by the crack at the bottom of the door. I could hear the faint murmur of voices, but couldn't make out anything they were saying. I sighed and sat back down on the toilet seat, and opened my game to play it.

It seemed like I was in the bathroom for a long time. Finally Daddy opened the door and beckoned to me. "Pack your stuff, we need to get on the road."

I came into the room and looked around. It was just Daddy and me in the room. "Where's Castiel?" I asked.

"We talked, and he left, went where ever he goes."

"But I wanted to talk to him more!" I protested.

Daddy muttered something under his breath and walked over to where a duffle was on the dresser. He started to go through it.

"Daddy, what did he mean, that demons are searching for me?" I walked over to him, "He said the danger is growing-"

Daddy glanced at me, holding a gun up and then doing something to it that made it click. "You don't need to know about that."

"Stop saying that!" I stomped my foot, "He said we need to know about it, and that includes me!"

Daddy put the gun down and turned to me. "No, little girl, it doesn't. I'm the adult and I decide what you need to know about, not you. And you don't need to-"

I got angry. "If you don't tell me, then I'll- I'll look in someone's head about it, so that I can know too!" I stomped my foot again and clenched my fists.

Daddy's eyes went wide for a second. "Excuse me? Excuse me?"

He got a very angry look on his face, and stepped towards me. He grabbed my upper arms and shook me once. "You do NOT threaten me, little girl, or anyone, ever again, do you understand me?" His voice rose to a shout. He walked us over to the bed and sat down on the edge, pulling me over his lap. He began to spank me, lecturing me as swat after swat fell and I struggled. "You will not use your ablilities to look into someone's mind, and you will not threaten me to get your way either! You are not a hunter, you are not in the hunting life, and you are not an adult. You do not get to know everything that adults are talking about. You are a child, and I will tell you what I think you need to know!"

I still felt mad, although I was crying from the spanking. Daddy landed a couple more hard swats on the lowest part of my butt and I wailed and kicked my feet.

He stopped spanking me for a moment, and I tried to catch my breath, although my chest was hitching with sobs.

"I don't want to ever hear you say that again, you got it?" Daddy asked in a hard voice, "You will not threaten me ever again."

I didn't answer him right away, and he lifted his hand and began to spank me again.

I started kicking again. "I'm sorry Daddy I won't!" I howled, "I wooooonnn't!"

Four more stinging swats landed, two to each side of my bottom, and he let me up and stood me in front of him.

I still felt upset. I did need to know what was happening, there was an angel that had come to talk to us, and he had come to talk about me! So I needed to know what he was saying.

Daddy went to put his arms around me, and I pushed him away. "No!" I exclaimed, "You're not being fair! Castiel said he was here to protect me, and I wanna know why!" I turned and ran to the bathroom, tears still pouring down my face. I slammed the door and locked it, and stood there hugging myself. I didn't understand why Daddy was being like this.

The doorknob rattled. "Charlie? Charlie? Little girl, you have three seconds to unlock this door, or else-"

"Dean-" I heard Uncle Sam's voice, then a knock on the door. "Charlie? What's going on? Will you unlock the door and talk to me, please?"

I unlocked the door, and then hurried over and wedged myself in between the tub and the sink in case one of them was going to try and spank me. I wasn't supposed to lock doors any more.

The door opened and Uncle Sam came in and stood there. "What's wrong, Charlie?"

"Daddy won't tell me anything!" I said hotly, "Castiel said that there's danger, and he's my guardian angel, and he's here to protect me! I want to know from what! He keeps talking about demons! Why?"

Uncle Sam sighed. "Well...all right, come here," he beckoned to me.

I looked up at him. "Am I in trouble?"

"You did lock the door, which is a rule broken, I believe," he cocked an eyebrow at me, "But we'll talk about that later. Come on, out of there."

I scooted out from my spot and followed him out to the room. Daddy and Grandpa John were standing by the table.

"Dean, you need to think about this," Uncle Sam said, "This isn't going to change. Like Missouri said, Charlie's abilities aren't going to go away, they're just going to get stronger."

"Sam-"

Uncle Sam got a funny look on his face, and glanced at me. "You know she also told us that Charlie's already got one foot in the hunting world because of her abilities, and you need to stop fighting that."

"What?" I asked, shocked. Missouri hadn't said anything like that to me!

"Dammit, Sam!" Daddy snapped, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Dean, this has the potential to drive a wedge between you and Charlie," Grandpa John said, "Yes, she's a little girl, but she can know the basics without it being too much. She needs to know about what's going on, it will help her stay safe."

Daddy slammed his hands down on the table, making me jump.

"Dammit!" he said again, "I didn't want this for her! I don't want it to be like this!" He turned towards us. "How did you deal with the knowledge that that slippery bastard is still out there, and he's looking for ways to screw with you, and us, and you're always two steps behind?" he looked at Grandpa John.

"It's part of the job, Dean, and it's a terrible part of it, but that's how it is. That's part of why I trained you boys like I did, so that you could be prepared for everything that could potentially happen," Grandpa John said.

"Well, I'm not training Charlie, uh-uh, no way," Daddy shook his head.

"We're not saying that, Dean," Uncle Sam said, "Just talk to her about what's happening right now."

Daddy sighed and raked his hands through his hair. "All right, let me think about it. I want to talk to the both of you beforehand, though, so that we decide exactly what to tell her, and nothing more than that."

"All right," Grandpa John and Uncle Sam agreed, "We should get on the road, daylight's wasting," Grandpa John said.

"We'll talk later, once we get to the cabin," Daddy told me, "Use the restroom and double-check to make sure you didn't leave anything behind."

"Okay, Daddy," I said. When I came out of the bathroom he was near the door. He caught me in a hug.

"You broke a rule, locking the bathroom door," he said, "But I'm going to let it go, because I understand why you were upset with me," he leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "You're a good girl, Charlie, but I meant what I said, I don't ever want to hear you threaten anyone ever again. If you do, the paddle comes out, understand?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said, hugging him back.


	65. Chapter 65

When I woke up in the morning it was cold. We had gotten to the cabin late at night, and since it was in the middle of the woods there was no light except our flashlights, and hard to see everything. We had laid out sleeping bags on the living room floor and gone to sleep.

I stretched and then sat up, looking around. The room was huge, a combination living room, kitchen, and dining area. To the right of the door was the kitchen, with a wooden island and then a table and chairs in front of that. I was over next to the sofa.

I got out of my sleeping bag and walked over to the kitchen area. Grandpa John was standing by the counter, pouring a cup of coffee.

"There she is! Did you sleep okay?" he smiled at me.

"I guess," I shivered, "I'm cold."

"Yeah, I just turned the heat on a little while ago. There's a fire in the stove, come sit over here," he pointed to an old-fashioned looking stove made of black metal that was in the corner behind the table. I walked over and sat in the chair nearest to it. The air was warmer over here.

"Are you hungry? I'm getting ready to make breakfast," he said.

The front door opened and Daddy came in carrying our duffles, followed by Uncle Sam carrying some cardboard boxes.

"Hey, sweetheart," Daddy said. I got up and went over to him. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Want to come see the bedrooms?" he asked.

"Yeah!" I followed him down a hallway. There were two bedrooms each with a big bed in them, and at the end of the hall, a large room that had two smaller beds and then a bunk bed at the far end.

"Ooh, can I sleep in the top bunk?" I asked excitedly.

"Sure," he put the duffles down on the beds, "We'll need to put sheets on the beds once we get settled in."

We went back out to the kitchen area. Uncle Sam was unpacking food and putting it away. Next to the kitchen was a small door that led into a pantry, that was like a walk-in closet. I had never seen one so big, it had shelves that went all the way up to the ceiling, stocked with rows of cans and boxes of food and jars of things like home-made jelly and pickles.

"This is a cabin for hunters to stay in if they need to, and the guy who owns it likes to keep it well-stocked," Grandpa John told us, "It runs on solar power too, it gets stored up during the day and uses what got stored at night. There's also a wood stove for extra heat and a fireplace. There should be a generator out back too just in case something happens. We'll have to check the supply of wood, you boys may need to chop some extra if we stay here long."

"Can I help chop wood?" I asked.

"No you may not, that's way too dangerous," Daddy said, giving me a look, "and speaking of that, right now I don't want you going outside either."

"Why not?" I asked.

Daddy and Uncle Sam both got a funny look on their faces and did the 'talking without words' thing.

"Well, I guess now's as good a time to talk about things as any," Daddy said. He got himself a cup of coffee and then sat across from me at the table.

"All right," Daddy said, "The reason we're here is that we're hiding out. Right now, I'm wanted by the police, because of the shifter. We're going to stay here for a few days until the investigation goes cold, and then we can move out."

"But- what about Thanksgiving? What about going to Lisa and Ben's?" I looked from Daddy to Uncle Sam, who was leaning on the counter.

Daddy looked uncomfortable. "Well, Lisa...doesn't really want me around right now," he told me. He sighed and rubbed his face. "Turns out the shifter was spending time with her...and he wasn't...he did some things that...weren't nice. And she thought it was me, so now...she feels funny about me being around," he sighed and closed his eyes for a long moment, then opened them again and looked at me. His eyes looked sad. "She doesn't want me around her or Ben right now, she knows in her head that it wasn't me, but...things got messed up because she thought it was me and she feels...like she can't trust me."

"That's not fair!" I protested, "You're Ben's Daddy, you need to be with him! If she knows it wasn't you then she should be okay, right?"

"Well...sometimes your head knows something and your heart feels something different. It's just something that happens. It'll take time." Daddy took a drink of his coffee.

"That was mean of that shifter, why'd he do that?" I frowned.

"I don't know, Charlie, like I said, we don't know the motivations of why they do the things they do. I'm just...dealing with it," Daddy looked down at the table, and I felt sad for him, because his face looked sad and defeated.

"We're going to have Thanksgiving here," Uncle Sam piped up, "We bought a turkey and all the stuff you're supposed to have, and we need to make the pumpkin pies today."

Daddy sat up straight and looked happy. "Oh yeah, and I'll be the taste-tester for the pies!"

Uncle Sam chuckled, "We won't need a taste-tester, Dean, you'll have to be patient and wait."

"Is Castiel going to come here?" I asked, feeling a little excited at the thought of being able to see him again and actually talk to him, "Why'd he say that stuff about protecting me and that I'm in danger?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam and they both shifted.

"One of the types of supernatural beings that we've dealt with is demons, do you know what they are?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yeah, they're devils from h-e-double hockey sticks," I said.

"Not really, they were once human, and after they spent time in hell, they turn into a demon. They have no body, and can possess a human being, by going into their body and taking it over. Do you understand that?" Daddy explained.

"The same way that Castiel said that he's in the body of that man?"

"Well, I think what he's done is a little different. He said the man asked for him to enter him, and demons don't need permission." Daddy said.

Uncle Sam set a stack of paper plates and plastic utensils on the table, and began to hand them out.

"Why did he say that demons are searching for me and that they're aware of me?" I asked nervously.

"Since demons communicate on a psychic wavelength, anyone with psychic abilities is more prone to being noticed by them. And if someone is working on their abilities, or they're really strong, that's like an alert. That's what Missouri told me," Grandpa John spoke up. He brought a pan full of scrambled eggs to the table and served them onto our plates.

"Why are you looking for one?" I looked up at him, remembering what Castiel had said to him in the hotel room.

Grandpa John looked a little surprised. "Jesus, kid, how do you remember everything you hear?" he muttered, and then he sighed. "Mary—my wife, your grandmother- was killed by a demon. I've been searching for him all these years and he's been- in hiding, or something, for a long time. But some things have been showing that he might be around again, and so I want to- I want to track him down and—get rid of him."

"Are you gonna kill him?" I asked Grandpa John quietly, "Can you do that? Kill demons?"

"Yes, you can. That old gun that I just got, the one that you- 'read'? It's a special gun, can kill anything. Anything supernatural. And I'm going to use it to kill the demon."

"Castiel said he's aware of me," I said, feeling a cold chill, "What does that mean?"

Grandpa John, Uncle Sam, and Daddy all looked at each other. "Well, it means that the demons that are out there are now aware that Dean Winchester has a kid, and that she's a psychic kid, with pretty strong abilities. And they might try to—to take you, to try and get back at me." Daddy told me.

"Why would they want to get back at you?" I asked uneasily.

"Well, we've exorcised a few demons in our day and sent them back to hell, trying to get info. They don't really like us all that much," Daddy said.

"Oh," I said, and shivered.

"So we need to be extra careful right now, and keep a close eye on things," Uncle Sam said, "And that means you have to be safe and not go outside, since we're in hiding here. We want to stay out of sight as much as possible."

"I can't go outside at all?" I complained, "But there's woods outside and we could go exploring and hiking and stuff!"

Daddy looked at me seriously. "No, you can't. Not right now. I mean it, Charlie, it's too dangerous. Understand?"

I sighed. "Yes, Daddy."

Grandpa John set a plate with bacon on the table and a plate of toast next to it, and sat down. "After we eat, we should check the warding around the perimeter," Grandpa John said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's symbols of protection that have been placed around the outside of the house, in the woods." Grandpa John explained.

"I'll go with you," Uncle Sam said.

After we ate, Daddy and I went to the bedroom. He got some sheets out and I helped him put them on the beds, then I climbed up on the top bunk of the bunkbed.

"This is really cool!" I said to him.

"Well, you be careful. Always use the ladder, no climbing up the end, and no jumping off either," Daddy gave me a look, "We're pretty far away from a hospital if you end up with a broken bone."

"I won't, Daddy!" I told him, "what are you doing?"

He had a large container of something and was pouring it out on the windowsill. "It's salt, it...protects against demons being able to enter."

"Salt?" I laughed, "That's funny!"

"Well, it's no laughing matter, it keeps us safe," Daddy said seriously, "I'm going to go and check all the windows." He left the room with the container.

I climbed down the ladder, jumping off the last rung, and went to get my backpack full of toys. I carried them up the ladder to the top bunk and began to set them up to play with for a while. I pretended that they were living on the top of a mountain.

Uncle Sam came into the bedroom carrying some plastic bags. He looked up and saw me. "Oh, there you are," he came over to me and stood next to the bed, "I'm not used to looking up to find you," he smiled.

I sat up and looked at him. "I'm taller than you for once, Uncle Sam!" I said gleefully.

"You're at just the right height for me to do this," he reached through the bed railing and tickled my side, and I giggled.

"I got you some things, Charlie," he told me.

"What things?" I put the figurines down that I was holding and climbed down the ladder quickly. He walked over to the bed and opened a bag. "Since the weather is getting colder, I got you a winter coat and some sweaters."

The coat was puffy and made of shiny blue material, with a soft fleece lining. The sweaters were a little bit big on me, but I didn't mind. One had different shades of pink stripes on it, another one was blue with white snowflakes knitted into it, and there was a red one and a pink one.

He pulled some more clothes out of another bag. "I got you some long underwear too."

"Long underwear!" I laughed, "what's that?"

"You know, long johns? You wear them under your clothes? It might get kinda cold here, so it's good to have them." He showed me the package, it was a long sleeved shirt and leggings, white with little pink flowers on them.

"Oh, right," I said. I had seen them before but never had a set.

"I found some fleece pajamas too, and Grandpa John found this," he pulled something out and handed it to me. It was a white hat, but it was Hello Kitty's face, with ears that stuck up and a red bow on the side. There were strings that came down on the sides, and matching gloves.

"Ooh, I love it!" I pulled the tags off of the hat and put it on my head. I hugged Uncle Sam. "Thanks for getting me this stuff!"

"You're welcome," he hugged me back, "I remember when we were packing your clothes that you didn't have a lot of winter things. Do you want to help me make the pies?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

I followed him out to the kitchen and he started to get the ingredients out. "I've never done this before, have you?" he asked me.

"Mommy used to make the pumpkins pies sometimes, and I would watch. She would let me put some ingredients in," I said, "We usually went to other people's houses for Thanksgiving," I felt sad, "Last year, we, uh...Mommy was too sick to go anywhere, and the smell of food and stuff made her sick, so we just...stayed home. Aunt Janice asked if I wanted to come to her house but I didn't want to leave Mommy. The year before that we went to Aunt Janice's and Mommy slept in the guest bedroom."

"So you didn't do anything for Thanksgiving last year?" Uncle Sam's face looked serious.

"Uh...no." I felt a little guilty, I had wanted to go to Aunt Janice's, but then I hadn't wanted to leave Mommy either. I had ended up staying with my Mom because I was worried about her.

Uncle Sam cupped his hand around my head for a moment. "It sounds like you didn't do much of anything last year, I'm sorry you had such a rough time," he said softly.

I shrugged.

Grandpa John came into the kitchen through a side door, carrying an armload of logs. He dropped them into a metal box that was next to the wood stove and came over to us.

"You like your hat?" he asked me, smiling so that his dimples showed.

I got off my chair and hugged him. "I don't like it, I love it, thanks!" I smiled back at him and he put his hand on my head and laughed.

Uncle Sam got an electric mixer out of the pantry and we started to make the pumpkin pies. He let me measure and pour the ingredients and he poured the mixture into the pie pans.

"Oh, crap," he said as he turned to the oven, "I forgot to pre-heat the oven!" he set the pie down and the liquid slopped over the edge. "Oh well, we can wait a few extra minutes," he shrugged.

"Wipe the liquid off the crust or it will burn," Grandpa John said.

"How do you know that?" Uncle Sam gave him a look.

"I used to watch your mother make pie, and help my mother when I was a kid," Grandpa John said, "I know my way around the kitchen a little."

Daddy came into the room just then. "I was on the laptop, and there's been more weather patterns cropping up north of here," he said, "A lot of electrical storms."

"Let me take a look," Grandpa John said, and they went back to one of the bedrooms.

"What does that mean?" I asked Uncle Sam.

He looked uncomfortable. "It's a sign of, uh, supernatural activity," he said, and I got the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me. He looked at me. "You make sure you tell us if you have any dreams, anything at all, or if you get any weird feelings or thoughts, okay?"

"O-kay, why?"

"Just because. You're more sensitive to things, so you might pick up on...something being out of whack."

"You mean I might pick up on if there's a demon out there?" I felt scared, "Is that what you mean? Are they going to come here and try to get us?"

"No, they won't, we're safe," Uncle Sam said soothingly, "Don't worry about that."

The oven beeped and he put the pies in. Soon the room was filled with the smell of the pumpkin pies cooking.


	66. Chapter 66

"This time I'm gonna kick that football clear to the moon!" Charlie Brown said as he was running. Lucy snatched the football away at the last minute.

"Aaauuugh!" Charlie Brown yelled as he flew up in the air and turned over a couple of times. He fell flat on his back and turned his head with an upset look on his face.

Lucy walked over to him and said, "Isn't it peculiar, Charlie Brown, how some traditions just slowly fade away?"

"Man I hated Lucy, she was such a smug bit—I mean, uh, nasty little kid," Daddy took a drink of his beer.

We were sitting together watching 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' on Uncle Sam's laptop.

"I think that's the point, that every kid has someone like Lucy in their lives," Uncle Sam said. It was Thanksgiving day, and the turkey had been cooking for a couple of hours now.

When it got to the part where Snoopy was serving the food that he made, I said, "When I was little, my Mom would make me toast and popcorn on Thanksgiving just like in the show."

"When you were little, huh?" Uncle Sam asked with amusement in his voice.

"I mean when I was a little kid, y'know. We were living in a house with Gramma and Gran-dad and relatives came over for the day."

"I didn't know you lived with your Grandparents," Daddy looked at me, "I thought it was always just you and your mom."

"It was when I was real little, I don't 'member much about it. They were sick and hadda go to the hospital and I didn't see them much after that. I stayed with a neighbor who was a old lady 'cause Mommy was gone a lot to the hospital. I-I saw that Miss Verna stole little things from other people's houses when she went to visit, and I—I got in trouble, and after that she wouldn't watch me any more," I blushed, remembering Mommy's angry face, and her saying, "You couldn't keep your mouth shut for once? What am I gonna do with you now?"

Daddy put his hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry you got in trouble," he said quietly, "I wish I had known about you back then."

"We left a little while after that, Mommy said that Gramma and Gran-dad had gone to heaven. And we moved into the apartment. We didn't know anyone at first so we didn't do anything really, we went to a restaurant one Thanksgiving and another time we got Chinese food," I laughed.

"Sounds about like our Thanksgivings sometimes," Daddy took another drink from his beer.

"What did you guys do?" I asked him.

"Well, Dad was usually off hunting. When we were kids we were alone a lot, or if Dad happened to be around it would be a bucket of KFC while he downed most of a bottle of Jack and then passed out. When we were older we went with him on hunts, you'd be surprised at how many ghosts get active around the holidays," Daddy said dryly.

"That doesn't sound very fun," I said.

Daddy shrugged, "That's a hunter's life."

"I was trying to...outrun the memories," Grandpa John said. We all turned- he had come into the room holding his journal. He sat down in an armchair and set his journal on his lap. "I had a lot of memories of my childhood which weren't always happy, and then...the memories of the holidays with your mother...it was...too painful, for a long time," he sighed heavily, and looked at Uncle Sam and then Daddy, "I know I wasn't there for you, I know I screwed things up. You boys should've had Thanksgivings with family and presents under a Christmas tree and all that, and I just...ran. I was selfish, I avoided my own discomfort at your expense. I didn't stop to think that you needed me, or a sense of family, all I thought was that you boys would be just as upset and hurting as I was on the holidays," Grandpa John's eyes looked wet. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. These past couple of months with Charlie have made me realize how important family is, and how important it is that we're all there for each other. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for you in the past," a tear slipped out of the corner of his eye and tracked down the side of his face.

"Dad, it—it's ok-"

"Don't say it's okay, Dean, it's not okay," Grandpa John interrupted Daddy, "Just- know that I'm aware of my screw-ups and while I can't change the past I can change the future, and that's what I want to try to do."

"We understand," Uncle Sam said quietly, "I mean, I didn't when I was a kid, but when Jess—when that happened, and I figured out that it was the same bastard who had killed Mom, I wanted- I got that same need for justice that you've had."

"Obsession is more like it," Grandpa John chuckled, but there was no humor in it, "I'm sorry I dragged you with me."

"Well, the three of us make a damn good team, even if we don't always see eye-to-eye," Daddy said, "and I'm proud of us and everything that we've done."

Grandpa John smiled at him and wiped the side of his face. "Thanks for that, Dean," he said softly.

"How about we peel some potatoes and start the biscuits going?" Uncle Sam asked.

"I saw a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label in one of the cabinets," Daddy said.

"Don't drink too much, we need to replace whatever we drink, and that stuff's pricey," Grandpa John stood up.

We moved over to the kitchen area and Daddy peeled and cut up potatoes while Uncle Sam made biscuits. He had gotten ears of corn, too, and Grandpa John showed me how to peel the husks off and then remove all the fine strands of corn silk. It was fun, I had never done that before.

Daddy looked through the cabinets and got out plates, setting a stack on the table.

"Charlie, why don't you set the table for us?" he asked. He brought over a pile of utensils too, and I walked around the table setting up each place. As I handled the plates, I started to get a funny feeling in my head, and by the time I had picked up the third plate, I saw a bearded man sitting at the table, eating what looked like beef stew off of one of the plates. He looked sad, and he was holding a gold necklace in his hand. He was wearing plaid just like Daddy did, and I knew he was a hunter.

I set the plate down with a thump.

"You okay, Charlie?" Uncle Sam turned to look at me.

I wiped my hands on my pants. "Yeah," I said casually. Now was the time to try what Missouri had taught me. I took a deep breath and then imagined that I was wearing gloves made of Adamantium. I picked up the silverware and placed it next to the plate, and then picked up the next plate. I didn't feel or see anything. I felt relieved, and smiled to myself. Maybe I finally was getting what Missouri had taught me!

A short time later, Uncle Sam called us to the kitchen. I had been playing on the top bunk again, and I hopped off the ladder and ran to the kitchen.

Daddy came into the house. "Got a text from Bobby, he said he's got his HAM radio up and running," then his face became sad looking, "and I got a text from Ben. He misses us and wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving. I told him that we didn't get good cell phone reception where we were," he sighed, and brushed a hand over his eyes, "He doesn't understand what happened, but it's not my place to tell him. He wanted to talk about it, but I said that his mom would talk to him when she's ready."

The cabin didn't get any cell phone reception, and in order to try, you had to go outside and stand on the front porch. Uncle Sam's laptop didn't work all the time either, it only connected the internet for a short time each day.

Grandpa John had come into the room. "Good, I'm glad Bobby got in touch, the computer's been iffy today. I need to talk to him," He went over to look at the turkey. "You want to try to cut this up, or should I?"

"No, you go ahead, I don't want to mess anything up," Uncle Sam said, "I'll start putting the rest of the food out. Come here, Charlie."

I carried the corn, the biscuits, and the big bowl of stuffing to the table. Uncle Sam put out the rest of the food.

"The stuffing's from a box, and the gravy's from a jar, but everything else is real," Uncle Sam said as he sat down.

Grandpa John carried a big platter of meat to the table and set it down. Everyone started to serve themselves and Daddy picked up a slice of meat and started to eat.

"Wait!" I said, and they all turned to me, "We're s'posed to say something that we're thankful for!"

Daddy looked confused. "We are?"

"Well...that's something that we always did," I told him.

"Oh. Well, uh-" Daddy cleared his throat nervously, "You want to go first, Charlie?"

"Umm...I'm, um thankful for you, Daddy," I looked at him, "And you and you," I looked at Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, "I never thought I'd ever have a Daddy, I thought it would just be me and mommy forever-" I felt tears come to my eyes, "I mean I'm not thankful that she's not here, but she, uh—I mean, Daddy's here because she, uh-" I felt my lip trembling and I tried not to start crying.

"She left your life and your Dad came into it," Grandpa John said quietly, "I understand what you're trying to say, Charlie."

"And Dad and I came along with your Dad, because Winchesters stick together," Uncle Sam said.

"You didn't know you'd be getting a package deal with me, not just a dad, but an uncle and gramps too," Daddy grinned.

I wiped my eyes and smiled at him. "Yeah," I said.

"I think that goes for all of us,"Grandpa John said, raising his glass, "I think we're all thankful for our family, and that Charlie brought us together."

Uncle Sam and Daddy raised their glasses too, and I raised my glass of milk. We all clinked our glasses together and then started to eat.

After dinner, Daddy and I were laying on the sofa together, dozing.

"Oooh, I want another piece of pie, but I'm still stuffed," Daddy groaned, "I don't think I'll need to eat for another, oh, week or so."

"Knowing you, you'll be ready to eat tomorrow," Uncle Sam said with a scoff, "And no midnight snacking on pie either. Leave some for the rest of us."

"Aww, Sammy, you ruined my plans!" Daddy grinned at him.

Grandpa John came into the room. "Bobby's on the HAM radio right now, and the laptop is connected- there's some more activity happening, and it's close by," His voice sounded urgent, "Come take a look."

Daddy patted my arm. "Sit up, baby, I've got to go see."

I sat up. "Can I see too?"

He got up. "No, not right now." He and Uncle Sam went to Grandpa John's bedroom, where he had the radio and laptop set up.

They stayed in there for the rest of the night. Daddy was distracted while he put me to bed, and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam came to the door of the bedroom to give me a hug and a kiss. I didn't know what they were researching, but it made me feel nervous.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Uncle Saaam, I need a break!" I whined, turning away from the table.

"You just had one not fifteen minutes ago," he commented. He was sitting on the sofa looking at his laptop.

Daddy came in the side door with an armful of logs and deposited them in the bin next to the stove. Then he went into the kitchen and took food out of the fridge.

"What are you doing, Daddy?" I asked.

"Making myself a sandwich," he told me.

"But it's not lunchtime yet," It felt like I had been doing school work for hours and hours!

"So? Chopping wood is hard work, and I'm hungry. Don't you have schoolwork to do?"

He sliced some turkey and placed it on the counter next to the bread.

"I need a break," I whined again, "Can't I have a break?"

"Hey, don't look at me, that's between you and Uncle Sam," Daddy said.

Uncle Sam got up and came over to me, leaning over me and looking at the tablet.

"Charlie, you've barely done anything," he said, "Come on, now, get to work."

Daddy raised his eyebrows at me as he spread mayonnaise on bread. I slid down in my chair a little, feeling embarrassed.

"I don't like math," I said sulkily.

"Well, the sooner you get it done, the sooner you can move on to something you do like." Uncle Sam tapped the table, "Go on."

I got annoyed. "You- you can't expect me to get back into doing tons and tons of work when I haven't done any for a while 'cause I was working with Missouri!"

"You're breaking my heart, Charlie," Uncle Sam smiled, "May I remind you that if you were in regular school you wouldn't be getting any breaks."

I looked up at Uncle Sam. "Can't we do something else right now, and do the math later?" I wheedled.

"No, get the math done, then it won't be hanging over your head."

"I'm not doing it!" I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted.

"Charlotte Anne, what are the options for doing your schoolwork, do you remember?" Uncle Sam leaned over me again, looking me in the face, "You do your schoolwork, or you tell me no, and you do it with a sore butt. But it will get done."

I shoved the tablet away from me and it slid halfway across the table, "I'm not gonna do the math!" and I kicked the rungs of the chair.

Uncle Sam pulled the chair out from the table and turned it around with me still in it. I always forget how strong he is.

"Looks like you picked with a sore butt today," he said, pulling me out of the chair. He sat down in it and then turned me over his lap easily.

"Uncle Saaaaammmm!" I whined, trying to push up on his thigh. He placed his hand on my back and pushed my body down, holding me in place across his knees.

"I'm sorry- I'll do it!" I said quickly, hoping to persuade him to let me up.

"Too late," he said, "You don't get to mouth off at me and then start throwing a tantrum and expect that nothing's going to happen."

And then his hand swatted me, and I cried out.

"You will do your schoolwork, and you will do it when I give it to you, you don't get to pick and choose," he lectured as he spanked, "You will not mouth off to me and give me attitude about it. You do your work and you take breaks when I allow it. I don't know why we keep having to have this conversation, young lady," My whole butt was stinging by now, Uncle Sam's huge hand had already smacked every inch and he shifted me forward slightly on his lap.

"I'm sorryyyy- I wonnnnn't—pleeeease!" I wailed as he began to spank the lowest part of my butt, the curve where you sit down.

"I expect better from you, and I don't want to hear any more complaining or refusals, or you're going to be right back in this same position again, do you understand me?"

"Yes Uncle Sam!" I sobbed.

He landed a couple more swats on each side and then pulled me up to sit in his lap. I buried my face in his flannel, ashamed at how I had acted.

"M'sorry I was s-sassy be-b'fore," my chest hitched, "I'll do my w-work an' b-be good."

Uncle Sam rubbed his hand up and down my back. "You are a good girl, and a smart girl, you just get a little too much attitude sometimes. And it's my job to rein that attitude in," he leaned down and kissed the top of my head. I slid my arms around him and we snuggled together for a few minutes.

"You ready to get this math over and done with?" he patted my back.

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I sniffled, getting off of his lap. He stood up and turned the chair around, and sat next to me when I got back into the chair. He helped me work through the math, and I finished it quicker that way.

We were working on a Social Studies unit about the first Thanksgiving when Grandpa John came into the room.

"Dean, help me bring the weapons duffles in," he said, "I want to go through everything and make sure we have all the supplies we need."

Daddy had been lounging on the sofa, and he sat up. "What, do you think-"

Grandpa John nodded, "I think there's a good chance, the signs are still going on nearby. We need to be ready. I want to get this yellow-eyed bast-" he stopped, and looked at me.

Daddy stood up. "I'll grab my keys."

I looked up at Uncle Sam as the left. "What are they talking about?" I asked quietly.

He shook his head. "Don't wor-"

"Don't tell me don't worry!" I slammed my fists on the table, "You guys are always telling me that, and I'm tired of it!"

Uncle Sam crossed his arms over his chest, and a muscle twitched in his jaw. "Excuse me, young lady? You will not talk to me that way. Go to your room."

"Are you gonna tell me anything?" I glared up at him.

He pointed. "I said go to your room."

"FINE!" I yelled, pushing my chair back so hard that it clattered backwards. Uncle Sam landed a stinging swat on my behind as I ran by him, and I slammed the door and climbed up to the top bunk, grabbing the pillow and hugging it to me.


	67. Chapter 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Charlie gets paddled in this chapter, DO NOT READ if this will bother or offend you.  
> *********************

I waited in my room, fully expecting Uncle Sam or Daddy to come in and swat me, or at the very least, scold me. Nobody came in. I laid in bed for a while, sulking, and then my tummy growled with hunger.

I got down off of the bunkbed and walked out to the main room. There were weapons spread out over every flat surface, different types of guns, long and short knives, and other things that were metal and sharp that I had no idea what they were. There were bottles of dried herbs and liquids grouped on an end table.

"Freeze," Daddy said, turning from the kitchen island.

I stood still and looked at him questioningly.

"Dont—touch-anything-" he said sternly.

"I know, Daddy," I grumped.

He put the gun down that he was holding and beckoned me. I walked over to him and stood in front of him.

"You need to cool it with the mouth, little girl. Sam told me about what you said earlier. I know you already got a spanking today, but I have no problem adjusting your attitude over my knee if you don't change how you're acting. You got me?"

I looked down at the floor. "Yes, Daddy."

"Go apologize to your uncle."

I walked over to Uncle Sam, who was standing at the kitchen counter. "Sorry about before, Uncle Sam."

He leaned down to hug me. "We're just trying to keep you safe, honey."

"I'm hungry, when's dinner?" I asked.

He straightened and turned. "Oh, yeah, it is after 6 PM. Guess we should eat," He turned to the sink and started to wash his hands, "I'll get out some paper plates, will you set the table, Charlie?"

"After I go pee," I said, hurrying off to the bathroom.

As I opened the bathroom door, I heard a gravelly voice speaking. "Where is the Winchester spawn?"

I ran up the hall and over to Castiel, who was standing near Daddy. I threw my arms around Castiel and hugged him.

"Why are you squeezing me with your body?" he asked, looking down at me.

"It's a hug," I told him, "People do it to greet each other."

"Charlie, that's enough," Daddy said, and I let go of the angel.

"How about next time, you use the front door and knock instead of just showing up in the middle of the room, y'know?" Daddy said to Castiel.

"I am sorry, I am still not familiar with all the subtleties of human etiquette," Castiel replied.

"Well, what do you want?" Daddy asked.

"I must tell you that you should not attempt this," Castiel said, "I know you want to capture Azazel but what is happening now is not-"

"I know the signs, I've been following things for over 20 years," Grandpa John said abruptly, bristling at Castiel.

"He has many working under him, and there are more amassing in the West. There is talk of different factions fighti-" Castiel looked unaffected by Grandpa John's stern-ness.

"Well, I don't care about that, I just want him," Grandpa John was dismissive.

"Yes, but this could be a trap, designed to lure you away from the child."

Daddy sighed. "Damn, I didn't even think of that. We're going to need to do something about Charlie."

He gestured to Grandpa John and they walked over to Uncle Sam, and the three of them stood there talking quietly. Every once in a while they would look over at Castiel.

"Hey, Mr. Angel, do you have a harp and a halo?" I asked Castiel.

He looked down at me- he was tall, although not as tall as Daddy or Uncle Sam. "I do not. I am not...musically inclined. The halo was used in artworks throughout the ages to signify holy personages, but does not exist in real life."

"What's it like in Heaven?" I asked.

"It can be...busy. Depending on where you are and who you are with," Castiel replied.

"Busy?" I laughed, "I thought Heaven was where whatever you wanted came true."

"For humans who have moved on into the afterlife, yes, it can be like that. For angels, it is different."

"If I went to Heaven, could I have ice cream whenever I wanted it?"

"Yes, you could, although many humans forgo earthly concerns once they are there."

"All right," Daddy walked around the island and came over to us, "So, uh, Castiel, could you, uhh...could you watch Charlie while we're off dealing with...this demon business?"

I looked at Daddy and then at Castiel. "You mean like a babysitter? I'm going to be babysat by a angel?" I jumped up and down and clapped my hands, laughing, "This will be so cool!"

"Okay, don't get too excited," Daddy said, "It's not going to be for too long...hopefully."

Castiel looked aghast. "Wouldn't sitting on a baby harm the infant? Why would we do that?"

I laughed, "You're so funny! It's just called babysitting, it means you're taking care of me!"

"Oh," he frowned slightly, "I think I can manage to do that."

"We'll move out at first light tomorrow, I want to be on the road by oh-seven-hundred," Grandpa John said.

"What's oh-seven-hundred?" I asked.

"Seven AM in military-speak," Uncle Sam explained.

"Then I will stay here overnight and watch over you," Castiel said.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen," Daddy scoffed, "Just be back here tomorrow morning, okay?"

"All right, until tomorrow then," Castiel looked at all of us and nodded, and then there was a sound of flapping wings, and he was gone.

"Geez, I'm never gonna get used to that," Daddy shook his head.

Uncle Sam made everyone turkey sandwiches for dinner. He got out a bag of potato chips and put some on my plate. "I know it's not a vegetable, per se, but I'm too busy with this to heat up the leftovers."

"I don't care, potato chips, yum!" I said, taking my plate.

I got a little annoyed, because the rest of the evening, they were busy with the weapons, and then after they had cleaned everything and put them all away, they spread out some huge paper maps and spent a long time poring over them. None of them were paying attention to me at all.

Daddy finally noticed that it was late and told me to go to bed. After I had changed into my pajamas and done my routine, I came back out to the living room.

"I'm ready," I said, trying to take Daddy's hand, "will you tuck me in and stay with me for a little while?"

He glanced at me, "I'll tuck you in, but I need to get back to this."

"Aww," I complained. I walked around the table. "Good night, Uncle Sam."

"Good night, honey," Uncle Sam leaned down to hug and kiss me.

"Good night, Grandpa John," I looked up at him.

"Night, kiddo," he said distractedly. He ruffled my hair and kissed the top of my head.

Daddy followed me to the bedroom. I climbed up the ladder and got under the covers. "It's good that you and Uncle Sam are tall, you can still tuck me in up here!" I grinned.

Daddy reached over the bed railing and pulled the covers up.

"Good night, sleep well," he said, patting my cheek. I sat up and leaned over to hug him. He kissed my cheek before he let me go. I laid down and he tucked the blankets around me.

 

I woke up when it was barely light out. Uncle Sam and Daddy were still asleep in their beds.

I padded out to the kitchen, and as I passed the front door I glanced out the window. There were a couple of deer in the front yard, eating the leaves on the bushes. I stood stock-still and held my breath, watching for a couple of moments. Then I slowly, slowly, eased the deadbolt over and unlocked the door. I smoothly opened the door and slipped out onto the porch. I made tiny, slow steps over to the edge of the porch, still watching. The tallest deer turned and walked near one of the other ones, and began to lick its side. The third deer shook its head and flicked its ears. They were so beautiful, their fur was a smooth brown color- I had never seen a wild animal this close. I tiptoed down a couple of steps, and one of the deer stopped and raised its head and seemed to look right at me. I raised my hand, wondering if it would let me pet it-

I heard a footstep behind me, and turned. Daddy was standing in the doorway.

"Daddy, look!" I whispered, and when I turned back, the deer startled and ran into the woods, tails twitching as they leapt over a fallen log.

I turned around again. "Aww, Daddy, they ran aw-"

The look on Daddy's face was thunderous. "Charlotte. Anne. Winchester. Get—your ass—inside. NOW!"

I hurried up the stairs and crossed the porch, and he grabbed my arm and pulled me inside, slamming the door. He took my upper arms and shook me. "What the hell were you thinking?"

I looked over at the counter, Uncle Sam stood at the sink with the coffeepot in his hands.

"I saw the-the deer—I wanted to go look at them-"

Uncle Sam shook his head disapprovingly.

"I told you not to go outside, didn't I? Didn't I?" Daddy's voice was angry.

"Uh, y-yeah-"

"Come on," he let go of one arm, and began to walk down the hallway, dragging me with him. Once we got into the bedroom, he closed the door and let go of me.

"I told you not to go outside because it's not safe. There is increased demon activity going on around here!"

I got mad. "Well I didn't know that, you didn't tell me!" I clenched my fists and stomped my foot.

"I shouldn't have to tell you!" Daddy yelled, "I already told you not to go outside, and that should be good enough for you! There are demons out there, do you understand what that means? Demons are evil, Charlie, they will hurt you. If they took you they would do things to you that would- hurt your body and your mind. It is imperative that you do everything you can to stay hidden right now," he sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyes looked upset, and they were wet. "Do you know how I would feel if I lost you again? Demons are bad sons of bitches, Charlie, and I wouldn't—" he sighed again, heavier, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if—if demons got ahold of you."

His eyes looked different, and I realized that he was scared. My Daddy was scared. And that made me feel horrible and guilty. He told me these things to keep me safe, and I wasn't listening. Missouri had told him he needed to change and accept me, but I guess I really had to change too, and accept that life was different with Daddy. He and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had been fighting supernatural creatures for a long time and they knew what they were talking about. I needed to do what they told me to do, not just because they were making rules, but for my safety.

I fought against my guilt, saying, "I was just—just looking at deer in the front yard, y'know, it wasn't like I was-was hiking through the woods-" I stumbled over the words.

Daddy's face got hard. "Oh no, that's not gonna fly with me. I told you not to go outside. We told you about demons and how unsafe it is. And you decided to do your own thing, as usual. Well, you are going to learn to obey me, little girl!"

He walked over to his duffle and I heard a zipper being undone. When he turned back, my mouth went dry, because he was holding the paddle.

"I—I'm sorry, Daddy-" I said quickly.

He walked over to the end of the bed. "Get over here, Charlie," he pointed at the floor in front of him.

"Uh—Daddy-"

"If I have to come get you, that's more swats with the paddle added on," he said tightly.

I dragged my feet as I walked over to him, tears already in my eyes.

He sat down and set the paddle on the bed next to him, then took my wrist. "Let's go," he said, pulling on my arm after I hesitated.

I took a deep breath and leaned forward on his thigh, whimpering, "Daddy, I'm sorry-"

He lifted me over his lap, "I don't think you are," he said in a hard voice, "I think you're only sorry because you're in trouble and I'm about to blister your butt. You spend far too much time thinking you can get away with things- well, not anymore."

I yelped as he started to spank me, and I wriggled and started to kick almost right away. "Please, Daddy, I am sorry!" I cried out, "I will listen, I will!"

"I'm going to make sure of it," he growled, putting his arm over my back to hold me still. I wailed as the swats continued to fall and grabbed ahold of the blanket on the bed. I wanted to tell him that I realized I needed to listen to him, that I would be a good girl from now on, but all I could do was whine in the back of my throat as his hand peppered my butt with hard spanks.

Then he stopped, and I felt him tugging my pajama pants down. He pulled them down to my knees and then my panties came down right after, and I whimpered.

I felt him lean over slightly and tensed, and then he said, "You will obey me when I tell you what to do," and the paddle landed on my bottom the first time.

I tried to jerk away from him and howled as the stinging of my butt turned into a fire.

"You will not put yourself in danger," he said sternly, and the paddle smacked me again. I shrieked as I tried to kick my feet, but only succeeded in getting my pj pants tangled around my ankles.

"You will not go outside AGAIN," and the paddle came down quickly, one, two, three swats in a row, right where my butt meets my thighs, and I howled again. My whole bottom was throbbing and tears were pouring down my face.

After my sobbing had calmed a little bit, Daddy lifted me up and cuddled me in his arms. I put my arms around him and bawled into his pajama shirt. "Da—daddy, m' s-sorry, I wuh-won't be b-bad any muh-more," I heaved out.

"I didn't want to punish you right before I leave," he murmured against my hair, "But you need to understand how serious I am about this."

I moved my head and looked up at him. "I d-do, Daddy," I sniffled, "I do, an' m'sorry I didn't listen."

"Good girl," he leaned down and kissed my head.

"Are you gonna go an' fight demons?" I whispered.

He shifted me in his arms. "Well...yes, we are," he told me.

"I'm scared," I said.

"We've got the best arsenal of weapons that I know of, and Grandpa John has been doing this for a long time, he knows what he's doing."

"Okay...but I'm still gonna be scared," I snuggled into his chest.

"I'll come back to you. I'll always come back, all right?" I felt his hand in my hair as he held me tightly.

There was a knock on the door. Uncle Sam leaned into the room. "Coffee's ready, and Dad wants to get on the road."

Daddy sighed. "Is Castiel here?"

"Uh, yeah, he just showed up," Uncle Sam left.

Daddy shifted on the bed. "Get up, Charlie."

I grabbed ahold of him. "Carry me!"

"All right," he moved me onto his hip and stood up.

Castiel was standing by the front door. Uncle Sam was pouring coffee into metal travel mugs.

Daddy set me down, and I ran over to Uncle Sam and threw my arms around his waist. He picked me up, hugging me tightly, and kissed my cheek. I walked over to Grandpa John, who was fiddling with a gun. He set it on the table and looked at me. I hugged him, and he hugged me back.

"Be careful," I said softly.

"We will," he replied, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. I went back over to Daddy and put my arms around his waist again.

"We ready?" Uncle Sam brought over two travel mugs and handed one to Daddy.

"Yeah," Daddy said, "All right, Charlie, let go."

"One more hug!" I protested. He leaned down and hugged me again. "You behave yourself," he said.

"I will, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart," he kissed me again and let me go.

I followed them to the door and stood at the window watching them get into their vehicles.

Castiel stood beside me. He looked down at me. "Your face is leaking," he said.

"It's called crying," I told him.

"Crying occurs when a human is injured or in pain. Are you in pain? How did you sustain an injury in such a short amount of time?" he looked concerned.

"No, I'm not hurt, I just- I'm sad that they had to leave, and scared," I swiped my hand across my face.

"They will return, I am certain of it," he looked out the window again, "What does one do when one is babysitting?"


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adventures in Babysitting with Castiel! ENJOY!   
> ****************

I turned away from the door. "I, uh, gotta go, uh, I need to use the rest room," I told Castiel. He followed me down the hallway.

In the bathroom, I turned to close the door- he was standing right there behind me! "What're you doing?" I yelped in surprise.

"Your father charged me with watching you, so that is what I am doing," Castiel said.

"Well, uh, you're not s'posed to watch me every single second!"

He tilted his head slightly. "Your uncle told me I am not to leave you alone."

"But—but I won't be alone, I just—look, I gotta go pee! And people, y'know, they like to go pee in private!" I clamped my legs together, because I really had to go.

"That is right, humans prefer privacy for many things, bodily functions being one of the primary instances," Castiel said, almost to himself, "Forgive me, I am still learning about humans-"

"Just go, before I pee myself!" I pushed at him, and he walked into the hallway.

When I was finished, and had washed my hands, I opened the door. Castiel was standing right there in the doorway.

"Uh, can you not-"

He looked confused. "You had privacy while urinating, was that not good enough?"

I blushed, not wanting to think about if he had heard me peeing. "Never mind. I'm hungry."

I started to walk back up the hallway to the kitchen. "Can you cook?" I turned to look at him.

"I cannot." he glanced around, seeming to take everything in.

"Are you hungry?" I asked him.

"I do not get hungry, or need to eat."

I frowned. "But—your body—doesn't it get hungry?"

"Not while I am inhabiting this vessel, no."

I sighed. "Daddy didn't even make me breakfast before he left!"

I walked over to the stove. The cabin didn't have a microwave or a coffee-maker, because they used a lot of electricity. Instead Grandpa John made coffee on the stove every morning in an old-fashioned looking metal coffeepot that he said was called a 'percolator'. He said that's how they used to make coffee when he was a kid, and it was the best coffee ever. The coffeepot was still on the stove, and I lifted it carefully. There was still liquid in it!

I started to climb up on the counter to look for a mug, and my foot slipped. Castiel was right there, grabbing me around the waist so I didn't fall. "What are you trying to do, Charlotte Anne Winchester?" he asked.

"I need a mug," I told him, "Can you look for one?"

He set me on the floor and began to open the cabinets, taking out dishes.

"No, that's a plate—that's a bowl—oh, there, that one!" I took the mug from him and then poured the rest of the coffee into it. I knew there was a bowl of sugar on the counter, because Uncle Sam put a little bit of sugar and milk in his coffee. Daddy always teased him about it, because he and Grandpa John drank their coffee black.

I stirred the sugar in and got the milk out of the refrigerator. I tasted the coffee and had to add more sugar- it was strong!

After I drank some coffee I went into the pantry. Uncle Sam had bought a box of Lucky Charms "as a treat" he said, and he had told me I could have one small bowl with breakfast as long as I ate it with eggs and toast or something else that was healthy. I grabbed the bag of potato chips from yesterday too.

Castiel watched me pour my second bowl of Lucky Charms. "Are you sure you don't want any?" I asked him, "The marshmallows are yummy!"

"No thank you," he said, "I was not aware that potato chips were a breakfast food."

"Well, uh, they're actually not," I squirmed, thinking of how Uncle Sam would be upset with me for eating them for breakfast. "I just have them as a treat sometimes, y'know. To make me feel better when I'm, um, sad. It's okay."

"I see. Humans use many things to make themselves feel better when they are experiencing unpleasant emotions—food, cigarettes, sex-"

"Ewww, gross!" I covered my ears with my hands, "Don't talk about that stuff!"

"Why not?" he tilted his head again, frowning with confusion.

"Cause it's gross, y'know, kids don't want to hear about that! Grownups don't talk about sex stuff around kids!"

"I am having difficulty remembering everything I am not supposed to talk about with humans. And it is an even bigger list with children."

"Sorry," I finished my coffee, "Hey, wanna see my bunk bed?"

"Certainly, Charlotte Anne Winchester."

I turned to look at him as we walked down the hall. "You don't have to call me by my full name, ya know."

"But—that is your name."

"Yeah, but- I only get called that when I'm in trouble!"

"So...you associate your full name with being in trouble?"

"Yeah, and people don't normally call other people their first and last names. Just their first name. And my name is Charlie."

"Your name is Charlotte Anne."

I huffed as Castiel followed me over to my bed, and then I climbed up the ladder to the top bunk. "Look, isn't it cool!" I said.

I got an idea. "Hey, Castiel, are you strong?"

He nodded, "I am, and this vessel does not limit my strength either."

"If I jumped from up here, could you catch me?"

"Yes, I could. Why would you want to-"

I stood up. "'Cause it's fun! Catch me!" I jumped off of the bed, and he held out his arms and caught me. When he set me down I ran up the ladder again.

"Catch!" I called, standing up to jump, and he caught me again.

"It's almost like flying!" I said as I jumped again.

"I can assure you that jumping off of a bed is nothing like flying," He caught me and set me down.

"Hey, could you take me flying? I mean, you hold me and spread your wings and fly me around?"

He glanced up, and looked around the room. "There is not enough room in this house for me to spread my wings, and you are not supposed to go outside, Charlotte Anne."

I pouted for a moment. "What should we do now?"

"What is customary during- babysitting?"

"Uh, I dunno, watch t.v. or a movie, but...there's no t.v. here. Or we could play a game. Uncle Sam said there were some games in the hall closet."

We walked out to the living room and opened up the closet. It was more like the pantry, an actual room with shelves along two walls. It was packed with coats and clothes, there were different kinds of boots and hats and fishing rods, skis, and other outdoor equipment. On a top shelf were a pile of flat boxes.

"There, grab them," I told Castiel. He reached up and took the boxes down.

There was Monopoly and Parcheesi and a game called Mastermind, and a deck of cards.

I set up the Monopoly board and tried to explain how to play the game to Castiel, but I couldn't remember all the rules or exactly how to play.

"It's more fun with lots of people," I told him, "Let's play Mastermind instead." It was a guessing game, where one person set up a sequence of colored pegs, hidden behind a shield, and the other person had to guess the sequence. I had played it before with a nurse at the medical center where Mommy had gotten her treatments.

After we played a couple of times, I got frustrated, because Castiel guessed the order of pegs every single time I did it, on the first try!

"Are you cheating?" I asked him.

"Am I not supposed to look in your mind for the answers?"

I sighed angrily. "No, you're not! You're just supposed to guess!"

"I am sorry, I did not know that that was the objective of the game. Angels do not guess."

I got an idea. "You try," I said, turning the board around, "You put the pegs in a order that you pick, and I'll guess."

I wanted to see if I could look into his mind, the way I had looked into Daddy's. Maybe he could help me practice blocking too!

I turned away while he was setting things up, hearing the pegs clatter as he picked them up.

"I am ready," he said.

I turned back to him, and put the first set of pegs out to guess.

"Incorrect," he said.

I reached over and put my hand on his, and I looked into his mind the way I had done with Daddy.

I felt a strong buzzing in my brain, and it was like feeling the static that you hear on a radio.

Castiel took my hand and picked it up off of his hand. "Charlotte Anne, you must not do that. You could harm yourself trying to look inside my head."

I blushed. "Sorry," I muttered, "don't, uh, don't tell my Daddy, okay?"

"Why should I not tell your father?"

"He, uh, 'cause I'm not s'posed to do that."

"If you are not supposed to do that, then why did you?"

I blushed harder. "'Cause I wanted to see if I could do that with you. I did it with my Daddy one time."

"You should not use your abilities to look in other's minds."

"I—I know. I won't do it again, I swear, okay? Just don't tell my Daddy."

"Are you asking me to lie, Charlotte Anne?" he looked straight at me.

I squirmed. "No! No, just don't...don't say anything, okay, then you won't be talking about it and you won't have to tell him."

"Hmm..." he tilted his head.

"Let's play cards instead," I moved the Mastermind game onto the sofa. The Monopoly board was still set up and I pushed all the pieces out of the way, and tried to shuffle the cards. "Have you ever played Go Fish?" I asked him.

"I have never played any card games," he told me.

I spilled the cards and he helped me pick them up. Then I dealt the cards out and spread the rest in a circle. I explained the rules of the game, and we began to play.

"I do not understand how the cards are supposed to represent fish, they look nothing like fish," he said.

"Well, they're not. I mean, I guess they are. It's—it's just a matching game, y'know? It's fun!" I said, "Do you have any queens?"

"I am uncertain if I do, is this a queen?" he turned his hand around to show me his cards.

"You're not s'posed to show me your cards!" I said with exasperation.

"I do not understand why so many games involve hiding something from your opponent," he said.

"Well...'cause it's- that's just how it is. And it's fun to make people guess."

"Angels do not guess," he said again.

"Yeah, you said that already," I rolled my eyes, "You're not much fun!"

My stomach growled just then. "I'm hungry, it must be time for lunch," I stood up and went over to the kitchen. We still had plenty of turkey left, so I could make myself a sandwich. I saw most of a pumpkin pie on the top shelf of the refrigerator and pulled it out instead.

"Pumpkin pie, yum!" I said. I tried to cut a slice out of it, but I couldn't do it, so I took a fork and just ate some of the pie right out of the pie pan.

"Do you want some?" I asked Castiel. He had walked over to the table where I was standing and was watching me.

"I do not," he said.

"Hey, can you get me anything I wanted?" I looked up at him.

"It is a possibility. What do you want?"

"Can you get me ice cream? A hot fudge sundae? Made with French Vanilla ice cream?" I asked hopefully.

"I think...I think I can do that," he turned, "Come with me."

He took my arm, and then all of a sudden, we were standing in the middle of a store! I felt embarrassed, because I realized I was still in my pajamas, I had forgotten to get dressed.

It was a candy shop, there were big glass cases of different types of chocolates and pastries. There was a set of refrigerated cases along the side. There was what looked like a menu on the wall behind the counter. At the top of of the menu it said, "La Maison du Chocolat". I couldn't read anything because it looked like a different language.

"I made a mistake," Castiel muttered, "French Vanilla refers to the way the ice cream is made, not the country it originates from."

"Uh, I don't get it," I said.

He turned from the counter, holding a big dish of ice cream in his hands. "Here you go." We walked over to a table and sat down.

"Castiel, Daddy said we weren't s'posed to go outside, 'member?" I asked hesitantly.

"We are not outside, we are in the shop," he told me matter-of-factly.

I watched a man step up to the counter, he wore a striped sweater and a scarf and had a funny little beard on the bottom of his chin.

"Un cafe, s'il vous plait," he said, and handed some money over the counter. He walked over and sat at the table next to us, taking a newspaper out from under his armpit and unfolding it. He sipped his drink and looked at the paper.

"Can I have some 'see-voo-play'?" I asked, and giggled. His voice had sounded funny when he said those weird words!

He didn't look at me or even act like he noticed us. I realized that no one in the shop had looked at us or responded to us.

"Um, Castiel, are we—are we invisible or something?" I whispered, leaning towards him.

"We are moving at a faster frequency than the human eye can detect, they cannot see us," he told me, looking around.

"We're what?" I sat up and stared at him.

He began to repeat what he said, and I interrupted, "I heard you, I just don't get—I mean, how- why—how are you doing that?"

"Do you want me to explain the physics behind it? It will take a while-"

"No, I just-" I sighed, "Can you tell me in a easy way?"

"I sped up our molecules so that they could travel through space quicker and easier, it is a way to travel long distances in a short amount of time, and it is a way to avoid demons and other supernatural entities. Most of them travel at lower frequencies. They will be unaware of us while we are in this state."

"Is it—is it safe for me? Like, it's not going to make me turn into a monster or anything, or twist my DNA later so that I become a mutant?"

He shook his head. "There may be some residual after effects, but they will be temporary. It does not affect or alter your DNA or any part of your body."

I ate some more of my ice cream and turned to look out the window, watching people walk by. In the distance, there was a huge tall tower made of dark metal beams, all lit up. It looked familiar, but I couldn't think of where I'd seen it before.

I sat back finally and put my hand on my tummy. "I can't eat another bite, I'm stuffed."

Suddenly Castiel put his hand up to his head. It looked like he was listening to something.

"What?" I asked.

"I am getting an alert, your father—there is danger."

I sat up. "What do you mean, danger? Is he in danger? Can we go to where he is and help him?"

"No, you cannot go, or do anything to help, this is not a matter for humans. I must-" he looked around, and then directly at me. "I must put you to sleep, so that I can go and help your family."

"I wanna go with you, I don't want to go to bed!" I protested, "Wait, you said—put me to sleep? What d'you mean? I don't want you to put me to sleep!"

"You cannot go with me, Charlotte Anne. If I put you to sleep, you will sleep for a long while and be safe. I will go to where the Winchesters are and help them."

"Will they be okay?"

"I cannot say. But the quicker I get there, the better."

I sighed. "Okaaay. Put me to sleep then."

He reached out to touch me, with two fingers extended, and everything went dark.

 

Everything was gray. The ceiling was gray, the walls were gray, the door was dark gray metal. The walls and floor looked like cement. There were symbols painted on the walls and ceiling, and there were lights in the ceiling covered by metal grates. It was dim in the room, and damp. I shivered and sat up. I was laying on a dirty, dingy mattress that was on the side of the room, near the wall furthest away from the door.

I got up and ran over to the door and grabbed the handle, pulling on it. It stayed shut. There was a small window towards the top, covered by a metal grate. I jumped up a couple of times but the window was too high up for me to be able to see out of. I banged on the door and yanked on the handle as hard as I could. It was solid and heavy and didn't budge an inch.

"Daddy!" I called, "Daddy, I'm awake! Daddy where are you? I'm awake now, come get me!" I started to get scared. Where even was I? I kicked the door and banged on it some more. "HELP!" I shouted, "HELP ME! I'M LOCKED IN!" Suddenly panic overtook me, and I began to pound and kick at the door, screaming for help, somebody, anybody, come and get me, help me, save me. Where was my Daddy? Where was Uncle Sam? Where was Grandpa John? Where was Castiel?

I came back to myself, all huddled on the floor up against the door. My face was drenched with tears and my throat felt raw from screaming. I was shaking and my heart and head were pounding. My toes hurt and my hands hurt from all the hitting and kicking I had done.

I had to get ahold of myself. I had to try and figure out what to do. If I could find a way to get out of here. I looked around- there was a low table and a chair in the corner. I walked over to look-they were metal and bolted to the floor. There was a plastic mug on the table. I was so thirsty- I picked it up, looking to see if there was water in it.

A wave of dizziness washed over me as I saw hands holding the cup, a short dark-haired man's hands, with white bandages on the wrists, lifting the cup up to take a drink. I could feel the man's thoughts, confusion and anger and fear, and then I saw him looking in a mirror—he was standing in a bathroom, holding a straight razor, and his eyes changed from blue to bottomless shiny black and then to blue, and he whispered, "Gotta cut the demon out", and he raised the razor to his chest and sliced-

All I saw was blood cascading as I screamed and threw the cup away from me, as hard as I could. The man had had something inside him, something inside his head, something bad, something that made him think bad thoughts and want to do bad things. I felt pressure in my head, and pain behind my eyes. Was the bad thing what made his eyes black? I moaned as I felt the bad feelings swirling around in my head, and put my hands up to the sides of my head.

More images filled my mind. I saw the man holding a knife, and he shoved it into a blonde man's chest, and the blonde man looked shocked as blood began to pour down the front of his shirt. He gasped and grabbed ahold of the handle of the knife, but he couldn't remove it. Then I saw the man on top of a woman laying on her back, and she was crying, and he put his hands around her neck and squeezed- A wave of dizziness overcame me and then all of a sudden I was waking up on the floor next to the table. I must have fainted. Underneath my nose, and my lips and chin all felt wet- I wiped my face with my hand, and it came away bloody. My nose was bleeding! I began to cry, and started to stand up. I was still dizzy, and fell back down. I crawled on my hands and knees over to the mattress, and laid down on it, willing the stabbing pain in my head to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm putting this at the end of the chapter because I didn't want to spoil any of the action. I made up the "science-y sounding" explanations about how Charlie and Castiel were traveling. La Maison du Chocolat is a real store in France that sells candy and ice cream.


	69. Chapter 69

I woke up shivering. It was cold in here, and the damp felt like it had seeped into my bones. I curled up on the mattress, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"Daddy-" I whimpered, and then I got an idea. I tried to reach out to him in my mind, I called out, I tried to find him. I imagined going to find him, I imagined what it would be like if I came up to him somewhere.

I didn't feel anything. I reached out to Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, calling to them, imagining them and crying out to them. It made my head hurt worse, the pain was throbbing behind my eyes. My stomach twisted and I started to cry again.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I heard the creaking of metal on metal, and voices talking. "-shouldn't have put her down here! This is a Panic Room, for crap's sake!" Daddy said angrily. I was curled in a ball, facing the wall, on the mattress.

"Why aren't you coming in?" Daddy demanded.

"I cannot, there are sigils which prevent me from entering," I recognized Castiel's voice, "I put her to sleep, she should sleep for at least 24 hours."

"Charlie? Charlie!" I heard Daddy say, and I heard quick footsteps. I slitted my eyes open and whimpered, since any movement made my head hurt.

"Oh God, what happened, baby?" Daddy asked. He knelt down next to me and turned me over. I looked up at him. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were behind him, leaning down.

"Did you fall down and hit your face?" Daddy asked, putting his hand behind my head.

"Oohh, my head," I moaned as he sat me up.

"Daddy where were you? I woke up an' I was all 'lone an' I didn't know where I was or where anyone else was an', an'... I tried to reach you—I tried to call out to all of you in my head...did you hear me?" I looked at him, and saw Grandpa John glance at Uncle Sam.

"No, sweetheart, what happened?" Daddy asked concernedly, "Why is your face bloody?"

I started to cry. "I picked up that cup, I was thirsty, and I wanted to see if there was water, and I saw the man who held the cup before, and he- he-" my chest started to heave with sobs, "he had something bad inside of him, he could feel it and it made his eyes black and it made him think bad thoughts, and he—he tried to cut it out, and there was so much blood!" I burst into loud sobs and curled up again, scared of the images. "I keep feeling the feelings an' I was so scared an', an' I got dizzy and fell down, an when I woke up my nose was bleeding!"

"You threw up all over yourself too," Uncle Sam commented.

"Jesus," Daddy muttered, leaning down to hug me, "What the hell was all that?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder.

Grandpa John said, "I know this has been used as a holding tank for people who've been possessed."

"Great, just great," Daddy sighed angrily. He turned his body and said, "This is why I said she shouldn't be down here, man!"

"I apologize, I did not know that this would happen. Humans usually sleep for many hours when I put them to sleep," Castiel said from the doorway.

"Well, Charlie's a psychic kid with pretty strong abilities, so she's not going to be like a 'normal human'!" Daddy retorted, "Next time check with someone before you do doing something like this!"

"I did what I had to do at the moment," Castiel's voice became deeper and booming, "Time was of the essence and I had to move quickly to help you all. If I had not arrived when I did the damage could have been a lot worse. I had to weigh the options, and assisting you was of more importance. I made a mistake with the child, it will not happen again."

"Yeah, well...let's get you upstairs, baby," Daddy leaned down and slid his arms under my knees and around my back. He stood up, holding me against his chest. "Phew, you're ripe, kiddo."

I closed my eyes as he carried me upstairs, because the light was making my head hurt. The movement made my stomach flip and nausea rose in my throat.

"Da—Daddy, I feel sick, m'gonna—" I gulped, "Moving is makin' my tummy feel yucky."

"All right, I'll sit for a minute," Daddy said. I heard a clatter as something fell and opened my eyes briefly. We were sitting on the sofa, and the Mastermind game had gotten knocked onto the floor.

"Looks like you two had a game marathon," Daddy commented with humor is his voice.

"There's Lucky Charms, chips, and pie left out on the counter, you two must have had quite a party," Uncle Sam said dryly, "Uhh...why is there a bottle of French champagne and a box of chocolates over here? Where the hell'd they come from?"

"I...made a mistake," Castiel said, "The child requested French Vanilla ice cream, and I thought that it was made in France. As it turns out, it is referring to the technique used to make the ice cream, not the country."

"You took Charlie to France, for ice cream?" Uncle Sam asked disbelievingly.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Daddy's voice was deep with anger, "I ask you to watch my kid and keep her safe, and you take her out of the Goddamn country for some freakin' dessert?"

"We were completely safe, Dean Winchester, I assure you," Castiel replied calmly, "I sped up our molecules so that we would be undetected by anyone, especially supernaturals."

"Sped up your molecules? How is that even-" Uncle Sam said, but then his voice changed to panicked- sounding, "Dad? Dad!"

I heard quick footsteps, and the sound of a thud.

"What's wrong?" Uncle Sam asked.

Daddy shifted on the sofa. "Dammit, I knew he was more hurt than he let on!"

"Sammy...it's okay...I'll be okay, just got lightheaded for a moment-" Grandpa John's voice sounded weak.

"You are bleeding excessively from that stab wound. I can heal it if you wish," Castiel said.

Grandpa John groaned loudly, and Uncle Sam and Daddy both exclaimed, "Dad!"

Their loud voices made my head hurt, and I moaned and tried to cover my ears.

"How—how'd you do that?" Grandpa John asked, "Thank you."

"I am an angel of the Lord, I can heal injuries. If you wish, I can put Charlotte Anne to sleep again, to help her mind-"

"Don't you touch her!" Daddy snarled, tightening his grip on me, "I don't need any more of your 'help' right now! Get the hell out of here!"

"I was only doing what I did to-"

"Just GO!" Daddy yelled, and I whimpered. There was the sound of flapping wings, and then Castiel was gone.

"Dean, he was doing what he thought best so he could come and help us," Uncle Sam said.

"Yeah, well, I trusted him with my kid, and he takes her halfway across the world without my permission and then knocks her out and sticks her in a Panic Room without letting anyone know?"

"He helped us right when we needed it, things would have gone very differently if he hadn't showed up when he did," Grandpa John said.

"Still not happy about this situation," Daddy grumbled, "Charlie, we need to get you into a bath, sweetheart."

"Nooo," I whined, "Wanna sleep...head hurts."

"I know, baby, but you've got dried puke and blood all down your front, on your arms and in your hair too. I don't want to put you to bed like that," I felt him moving, holding me against his chest.

"I'll get the water started," I heard Uncle Sam say.

Daddy stood up and I felt us moving. "Can you stand up?" he asked me.

I opened my eyes- we were in the bathroom, and I was standing in front of him. He let go of me, and after a moment, my knees buckled.

Uncle Sam had been crouched by the tub, and he stood up, "Whoa!" he reached over to grab me with Daddy.

"I guess that answers that question," Daddy sat down on the closed toilet seat and took me on his lap. "Come on, let's get your clothes off," he said gently. I felt him lifting my arms, pulling them out of the sleeves, and my shirt pulled on my hair because thick strands of hair were stuck to the fabric with dried blood or throw up. I whimpered as I felt them pulling my hair off of the shirt.

"All right, pants," Daddy said. Uncle Sam knelt on the floor and pulled on the cuffs of my pajama pants, removing them, and then Daddy stood me up, holding me under my armpits. I felt Uncle Sam pulling down my panties and lifting my feet to take them off. I wanted to protest and say I wasn't a baby, I could do it myself, but my head was throbbing so bad I couldn't talk.

"Tub," Daddy picked me up like a baby, and then leaned over and placed me in the water. It was warm, but the sensation still shocked me, and I screeched, and then started to cry.

"I'll hold her up, you wash," Uncle Sam said. I felt his arm around my back, and he said soothingly, "It's all right, Charlie, we're going to get you cleaned off and in bed."

Daddy wet a washcloth and began to wipe at my neck. I raised my hand and batted at him, trying to grab the washcloth.

"What?" Daddy asked.

"M' not a baby, c'n do it m'self," I mumbled.

Daddy chuckled. "Little girl, you are in no condition to do anything for yourself right now. Relax."

"Lay back, I've got you," Uncle Sam said.

"I brought in clean pajamas," I heard Grandpa John's voice.

"Thanks, Dad," Daddy said.

"How is she doing?"

"Trying to wash herself, spunky as ever," Daddy said with another chuckle.

"You want to put her in your bed instead of the bunkbed? I'll grab her Hello Kitty pillows and blanket and move them."

"That's a good idea, Dad," Uncle Sam said.

It took Daddy a few minutes to clean the dried stuff out of my hair, and even though it didn't hurt, the pulling was uncomfortable, and I started to cry again.

"All right, baby, almost done," Daddy said soothingly, "Hey, Dad?" he called over his shoulder, "Could you grab a towel and take her when we lift her out?"

"Sure." I heard Grandpa John's voice again.

Daddy took my hands and pulled, and Uncle Sam lifted against my back, and they helped me stand up. Uncle Sam lifted me out of the tub, and Grandpa John took me and wrapped a towel around me, holding on to me so I didn't fall over.

Daddy sat on the toilet seat again. "Okay, let's dry her off," he said. He began to dry my body off, and then Grandpa John took a towel and rubbed my hair until it was damp.

"Give me your arm," Daddy said, and I felt him guiding my arm into a sleeve. He pulled my pj top on my other arm and then buttoned it, and then bent over to put my panties on my feet. He stood me up, holding me upright, and Uncle Sam knelt again and pulled my panties up and then guided my feet into my pj pants and pulled them up too.

Daddy scooped me up and carried me to the bedroom. He laid me down in his bed and pulled the covers up. "Here's MaryBear, and Hello Kitty, and your pillows," he told me.

"Don' want them, jus' wan' you," I mumbled, grabbing his arm. I could smell his Daddy-smell on his pillow.

"I'll stay with you," he said, "I'll be right here."

"Wait, take some medicine, Charlie," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy propped me up and I swallowed medicine from a little plastic cup and then drank some water. I laid down again, and fell asleep feeling Daddy carding his hand through my damp hair.

I woke up smelling food. Daddy was sitting by the bed with a plate on his knees. I rolled onto my side, and he looked at me.

"Hey, baby girl, how are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"Head still hurts," I murmured.

"You hungry?"

"Uh-uh."

Uncle Sam came into the room with a mug. "Here's the cof- oh, she's awake! How are you feeing, Charlie?" He handed the mug to Daddy.

"Her head still hurts," Daddy reported, taking a long drink from the mug.

"Are you hungry? You want me to fix you a plate?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"No thanks," I mumbled.

"I want you to drink something, I'll go get you some medicine, and some water, okay?" Uncle Sam left the room.

Daddy got up and sat on the bed next to me. "Try to eat a little," he coaxed, "Just a bite or two for me." He held the fork up. I let him feed me a forkful of mashed potatoes.

Uncle Sam came back into the room and Daddy helped me sit up.

I drank the medicine from the little cup and then some water.

"You feel up to talking about what happened?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Uh...I d'no," I said.

"Missouri wants to hear about everything, she wants me to record you talking about it and then I'll send it to her," Uncle Sam told me.

"Have some more," Daddy held a piece of turkey meat up to me. I ate it.

"Can I have some more water?" I asked.

Uncle Sam leaned over and held the glass up to my mouth and I drank some more. Then he sat down at the end of the bed and took out his phone.

"Charlie, can you tell me what happened when you were in the panic room?" He pressed some buttons on his phone and I heard it beep, and he held it up like he was taking a picture of me.

"I woke up...it was all dim and kinda cold. I went to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. I got scared...I started banging and kicking on the door and kinda freaked out, screaming and all," Daddy stroked my hair back from my face, watching me.

"I looked around the room to see what was there and if I could try to find a way out, and I saw the table and chair. There was a cup on the table and I was real thirsty, so I went over and picked it up. Then I saw...I saw..." my eyes filled with tears. Daddy put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"A man holding the cup, he had short dark hair, and there were bandages on his wrists. Then it changed and he was standing in front of a mirror looking at himself and his eyes changed, from blue to shiny black to blue, and he said "Gotta cut the demon out". He had a—a razor, and he started to cut—himself-" I started to cry, feeling scared again, "there was so much blood everywhere and he just- kept—cutting-" my chest hitched a couple times.

"All right, Charlie, breathe," Daddy said quietly.

"I could—could feel the feelings in him, he was mad an' confused an' scared, an' the feelings just kept coming, then I saw him stab another man, and then he was on top of a woman and he had his hands on her neck, but I don't know—I don't know if the bad thing inside him was making him think those things or if he really did them-" I sobbed and put my head on Daddy's chest.

"Oh, Charlie," Daddy's voice was sympathetic, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that."

"He knew there was something bad inside him and he didn't want it there," I said, "I was able to throw the cup away from me, an' then I got real dizzy, an' the next thing I knew I was waking up on the floor next to the table. My nose and chin were all wet, with blood. I tried to get up and walk but I was too dizzy, so I crawled over to the mattress and laid down. My head was hurting so bad, it was like a knife stabbing."

Daddy put his arms around me and hugged me, rocking us from side to side.

I looked up at him after a moment, and said, "I woke up an' I felt scared, an' I tried to reach out to you, Daddy, I tried to call to you an' Uncle Sam an' Grandpa John, I was screaming in my head. Did you hear me?"

"No, I didn't, sweetheart, I'm sorry," Daddy said. He looked at Uncle Sam. "Anything else?"

"Do you have anything to add?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"Uh-uh," I said.

"I guess that's it," Uncle Sam turned off his phone, "I'm going to go send this to Missouri," he leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "Make sure you drink all the water," He left the room.

I ate another bite of turkey and mashed potatoes, and drank the rest of the water. Then I was tired, and Daddy helped me lay down in bed again. I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

 

The walls were gray...the ceiling was gray...the floor was cold gray cement...I was trapped...I felt the evil that I had felt when I picked up the cup, moving through me like a wave...I shivered...I remembered seeing Mommy crying in the bathroom after she'd taken a shower and large clumps of her hair had come out when she washed her hair...holding the trash can in front of her as she threw up and holding my nose so I didn't smell it and puke myself...feeling scared when I saw her connected to the tubes and wires when she got her treatments...I'd had to take care of myself and her and not do anything to draw attention to myself, and be extra extra good, and she had still gotten sicker and then died...and there had been a monster at our campsite that killed her and could have killed me...the fear I had felt when I was huddled in my sleeping bag listening to all the sounds outside the tent came back to me...and then Aunt Michelle had kidnapped me, I had been so scared I would never see my Daddy again...and then I remembered the cage, and the changeling woman leaning over me, and her pointy teeth, and her tying the ropes around me, jerking them extra tight because she was mad that I had fought her...and the pain I had felt, being cold and uncomfortable in the dark cage, the fear and sadness about my Daddy and wondering if I'd ever see him again...waking up in the hospital and not being able to move...the humiliation of having to be fed like a baby and learn how to walk again...seeing and feeling all those intense things, the PT therapist whose boyfriend hit her, and Miss Lettie coughing blood into a handkerchief, and Big Luke lying dead on a table...and now this man with the evil in him, feeling his desire to do harm fighting within him to be a regular person...it was all too much for me...everything that had happened to me over the past several months, everything felt like a heavy weight, pressing down on me, and I couldn't get out from under it...

"Charlie? Charlie! What the hell is—what's going on?" I heard Daddy's voice above me, panicked and loud.

"What is it, Dean?" I heard Uncle Sam's voice.

"She's—it's almost like she's having some kind of- of seizure-"

"I—I c-c-can't..." I whispered, "Ev—ev—ry—thing...is so...t-too much..." I started to cry even though it made my head hurt, "My mommy's hair fell out and she had tubes all sticking out and the hospital smelled funny and it was scary hearing all those sounds when I was in the tent and I wanted to go after her and Aunt Michelle was so mean and scary I thought I'd never see you any more and the monster with its gray skin and dark holes for eyes and the sharp teeth in my ne-"

The memories and feelings rose up in me like a wave and I felt like I was going to drown. I was babbling, shrieking, clutching at something, and the edges of my vision were getting dark. My head throbbed with pain and it felt like there was a metal band around my brain, tightening and tightening.

"Hey, whoa, whoa," I heard Daddy say.

"No more," I whimpered.

"Here, take this, it's applesauce," Uncle Sam said urgently, "Swallow it-"

"Why I gotta eat applesauce?" I mumbled, turning my head away.

"It's got some medicine in it that will help you feel better," Daddy told me.

Uncle Sam held a spoon up to my mouth and I opened and swallowed, and tasted the sweetness of the apple but also a bitterness, and I gagged.

"Drink, good girl," Uncle Sam said. He held a cup to my mouth and I drank the cool liquid, to get rid of the bitter powdery aftertaste.

"Daaaddddyyy," I whined, and my voice sounded younger than it was, "Don' goooo," I grabbed on to something again.

"I won't, baby, I won't, shh, relax," Daddy said. I started to feel fuzzy-headed, and opened my eyes.

"Don' leave me," I whispered, pulling on his shirt.

"I'm right here," Daddy told me. He laid down next to me in bed and put his arm around me, and I snuggled into his chest and went to sleep.

I woke up alone in bed. I had to pee, so I sat up. My head pounded, so I waited a moment, and then stood up slowly to walk to the bathroom. The light in the bathroom made my head hurt, so I did my business as fast as I could.

As I stood at the sink washing my hands. I glanced up into the mirror over the sink. I saw the man I had seen when I was in the panic room, him standing before a bathroom mirror, and his eyes changed, and he held the razor- I shook my head to clear it and turned the water off, reaching over to dry my hands off. When I raised my head again I saw the man again, I saw his eyes change to black, heard him whisper, "Gotta cut the demon out," and then I looked at my face and it looked like my eyes turned black for a moment!

"NOOOO!" I screamed, and I hit out at the mirror. I heard a crunch and felt a pain in my hand and then the sound of glass shattering as a shards of mirror fell into the sink.

"What th—on my God, Charlie, geez, what happened-" Daddy said concernedly.

"I saw the man, looking in the mirror, the man from before, when his eyes changed, he had badness in him, what if it's in me, it looked like my eyes changed, what if it's in me, Daddy?" I screamed. I looked down and my hand was bleeding. I started to feel light-headed again.

"Sammy, get in here, a little help!" Daddy bellowed, and then he caught me as I wobbled. "No, Charlie, there's nothing bad inside of you, okay, I gotcha," he picked me up, and started to carry me out of the bathroom.

Uncle Sam met us in the hallway. "What hap—oh geez," he said when he saw my hand.

I cried and screamed as Uncle Sam cleaned my hand off. He had to wipe it down carefully and make sure there were no slivers of mirror in the cuts, and I squirmed and kicked on Daddy's lap. Grandpa John had to come in and hold my legs still. Finally my hand was bandaged, and Uncle Sam gave me some more medicine in a teaspoonful of applesauce.

I whispered to Daddy, "What if the bad thing comes back in my head?"

"Charlie, there's nothing bad inside of you, all right? We...we checked it, and you're okay. Missouri said that your abilites got overworked again, and that it can take time for the images and feelings to get filtered out. Remember, your brain is still young and isn't able to handle those intense experiences. It will fade," Daddy reassured me.

"Don' leave me 'lone," I said.

"I won't," he picked me up, "Let's go out to the living room."

He sat down on the sofa, and I curled up on Daddy's lap, my unbandaged hand fisted in his flannel, and fell asleep.


	70. Chapter 70

"Charlie," Daddy said softly, "Wake up, Charlie."

I sighed and opened my eyes. I was on the sofa, and he was leaning over me.

"It's time for dinner, come eat," he took my hand and pulled me to sit up.

"Don't wannaaaa," I whimpered. My head didn't hurt any more, but I still felt drained and tired.

"Yes," he insisted, "Grandpa John made home-made turkey soup, he's been working on it all day. You've been asleep on the sofa this whole time, come sit at the table."

I got up and shuffled over to the table. There were bowls of steaming soup already set out. Uncle Sam brought over a bowl of rice and a bowl of noodles.

Grandpa John sat across from me. "You want rice in your soup, or egg noodles?"

"Never had turkey soup before, I don't know if I like it." I said.

"It's just like chicken soup, only made with turkey. Grandpa John put potatoes and celery and carrots in it too." Daddy told me.

"At least drink the stock," Grandpa John said.

"What's stock?"

"The liquid. It's good for you."

I tried some soup, and it was good. I put a spoonful of rice from the big dish in my soup.

"How's your head?" Uncle Sam asked.

"It doesn't hurt any more. I just feel tired."

"Good, I'm glad the headache is gone." Uncle Sam smiled at me.

We ate in silence for a few minutes, then I asked, "Did you kill the demons?"

All three of them stopped what they were doing, and then glanced at each other. Then they looked at me.

"Uhh, well, we, uh, we set out what we meant to do," Daddy said uneasily. Uncle Sam looked uncomfortable.

"What does that mean?" I asked, "Are they going to come after me any more?"

"Charlie, I don't...I don't think that you should...that you need to know... about that." Daddy said.

"But if it involves me, I do! You—you guys said I needed to know so that I'd be safe!" I protested.

"Yes, you need to know some things. But I will decide what you need to know. You don't get a free pass to learn about everything we've been doing," Daddy said firmly.

"That's not fair!" I slammed my fist on the table.

"Excuse me, little girl? You want to leave the table and go straight to bed?" Daddy asked in a hard voice.

"Dean-" Uncle Sam said.

"Look, I'm not going to let her start thinking she's part of this, because she's not, and she's not gonna be!" Daddy snapped.

"I was just going to say, cut her some slack," Uncle Sam said quietly.

"Dammit, Sam! I—I hate that my little girl knows about demons, and that we even have to talk about all this crap with her!" Daddy's voice was angry but his eyes had pain in them.

"I know, Dean, but...that's part of this life. Your kids are going to end up finding out about it one way or the other. And it's better if information comes from you," Grandpa John said.

"I'm done," I pushed the bowl away from me.

"Charlie-" Daddy looked regretful.

"My tummy is full, and I wanna lay down," I said.

Daddy sighed, and rubbed a hand over his face. "All right," he said.

I got up and walked over to the sofa, laying down and pulling the covers up. I closed my eyes and listened to them chatting about other hunters that they knew and things they'd been doing.

"Hey, want to play Monopoly?" Daddy asked me. They had finished eating and had come over to the sofa. I guess I had fallen asleep.

I sat up. "Okay," I said.

Daddy and Uncle Sam set up the board, and Daddy sat next to me on the sofa. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John pulled chairs over on the other side of the coffee table.

We played for a while, and Daddy kept buying properties. Uncle Sam kept landing on them and having to pay him money, and they were laughing about it. They said that Daddy used to do the same thing to Uncle Sam when they were kids and they would play.

I rolled the dice and landed on a spot where I had to pick a card. I picked a card off of the pile, and it said I had to go to jail. I moved the little metal dog to the Jail square. Suddenly it made me think about being in the Panic Room, when I was banging and kicking on the door, realizing I was locked in, and so scared. It had made me feel like I was in jail, and I didn't know why, and that scared me too.

Uncle Sam picked up the dice. "Let's see if I can manage to avoid any of Dean's properties this turn."

"I'm gonna buy up propeties on every side of the board, so that there's a higher chance of you landing on one, and I'll get allll your money," Daddy said with a grin.

Anger surged up in me out of nowhere and I stood up. "This is all so stupid!" I snapped, "Who cares about games or Monopoly of who has the most properties or money?" I flipped the board over, and all the little pieces went clattering across the floor, and the cards flew up in the air and then landed all over.

"What—the—hell, little girl? You trying to go to bed with a sore butt?" Daddy stared at me.

"I don't care!" I screamed, "There's terrible things out there—scary things that kill people and hurt people and we don't know if they're going to come after us or—or try to hurt us—and then they do things like kill your mommy, or you get kidnapped and end up in a cage-" I was sobbing by now, and the anger had changed to sadness, "The shapeshifter was there with me, Daddy, he held my hand!What if he—had taken me away—or done something else?" I started to shake.

"I know, baby, I know," Daddy held out his arms to me, "Come here."

I went to him and he pulled me into his arms and held me the way you hold a baby. I wept into his flannel shirt, feeling like I would never get rid of all the sadness I had inside of me.

"I—I don't like this," I whimpered, "Too much sadness...too much scary stuff...I don't like all the feelings...I want it to stop...I don't wanna feel this any more."

"I know, baby, I know it's rough. I wish I could help you with it, but I don't think there's anything I can do," he shifted me so that I was sitting up against his chest and hugged me. "We're here with you, and we're going to keep you safe. You've got to try and let all the things that you've seen go, and not dwell on them. They're in the past, and if you keep thinking about them it doesn't do any good," Daddy stroked my hair back from my face as he talked.

I could hear the sounds of someone cleaning up the game.

"Think she needs more medicine?" Uncle Sam asked quietly.

"No, she's slowing down," Daddy replied. He leaned over and grabbed a tissue box, and wiped my face clean and had me blow my nose. I started to doze on his lap, and I felt him stand up.

"Nooo," I whined, "Don't take me to the bedroom, wanna stay here with you."

He sighed. "All right." He sat down on the sofa again, putting my head on his lap, and arranged the blankets around me. I started to doze again.

A while later, I heard the sound of flapping wings.

"Dude, what the hell? What did I say about using the front door like a normal person?" Daddy said from across the room. He must have gotten up after I fell asleep.

"I apologize," Castiel said, "It is difficult for me to remember all the rules and strictures that humans have in their daily lives."

"Whatever...what do you want?"

"Why- do you have a bag of potato chips?" Uncle Sam asked curiously.

"These are for the child. She said she eats them when she is feeling sad, and I know she was upset when we removed her from the Panic Room," Castiel said.

"She eats them when she's feeling sad?" Daddy asked with humor in his voice, "what's that about?"

"Yes, Charlotte Anne ate them along with cereal. She said she eats them for breakfast when she feels sad and it makes her feel better," Castiel explained.

"Oh really?" Uncle Sam's voice was skeptical, "We'll have to have a discussion about her breakfast habits when she's awake."

"How is the child? Has her headache eased?" Castiel asked.

"Her headache's better, but she's not. She's still pretty freaked out by everything. It's been hard for her to get used to seeing things that have happened to people," Daddy said.

"I can heal any remaining physical discomfort she is having, and I can remove her abilities if you so wish."

"You're not touching her," Daddy said resolutely, "You didn't come here just to deliver a bag of chips to my kid, what do you want?"

"I came to tell you that I have dispatched the demon who escaped. He is...gone."

"You got him?" Daddy asked.

"Yes."

"Before he...got ahold of anyone else?"

"Yes."

"Well, thanks. You can go now," Daddy's voice was dismissive.

"If you want help in searching for Azazel, I can assist you. I can ask those that I work with-"

"Probably not a good idea, we want to keep the fact that we're after him on the down-low."

"What does searching for a demon have to do with a position?"

Daddy chuckled, "It's an expression. We don't want it to get out that we're looking, the less people—and angels- who know, the better."

"But surely he already knows," Castiel said, "One would make the assumption that he already knows that you are after him, since he killed your mother."

"All right, enough!" Daddy barked.

"I would like to speak with John Winchester," Castiel said.

"He's in the bedroom," Uncle Sam told him. I heard their footsteps walking out of the room and down the hall. I wanted to creep after them and listen in, to hear what they were talking about, but I was too tired. I felt myself falling asleep again.

 

 

"Charlie, let me see your hand," Uncle Sam said.

"Leave me 'lone," I muttered, pulling my hands underneath me.

"I want to change the bandage and check out your wounds," Uncle Sam insisted.

I was laying on the sofa again, burrowed underneath blankets. I had been having more nightmares. It seemed like my brain didn't know what to do with everything that had really happened to me, plus the images of things I had seen, and things got all mixed up. I had dreamed that Aunt Michelle kidnapped me, but then she gave me to the changeling, and then she turned into a wolf and ate the changeling. I dreamed that Big Luke and Miss Lettie were in cages next to me, and Daddy and Uncle Sam came to rescue us, but the changeling killed them before they got to my cage. I dreamed that I was at the campsite with Daddy and Mommy on a camping trip, and the wolf-creature came out of the woods and began to attack all of us. And through it all the man whose eyed changed to black would pop in occasionally.

I had woken up screaming again, and Uncle Sam had given me more medicine in a spoonful of applesauce. Since then I hadn't wanted to do much of anything. I didn't want to be alone and I didn't want to sleep alone. So I stayed on the sofa all day and dozed on and off.

Daddy walked over and stood next to Uncle Sam, looking down at me. "Charlie, let Uncle Sam check your hand out."

"Noooo," I whined, "I'm tired."

"You've been on the sofa for the past couple of days doing nothing but sleeping, how can you be tired?" Daddy asked, "Come on-" he reached for me, and I pulled the blanket tighter over me.

Daddy straightened up and put his hands on his hips. "Little girl, you'd better let go of that blanket and sit up right now," he watched me for a moment, "Charlotte Anne, last chance before I turn you over my knee."

"Daddddddyyyyyy-" I whined, but I sat up and pushed the blankets away. Daddy sat next to me and held my good hand while Uncle Sam removed the bandage from the other one.

"Looks good, I think we can leave the bandage off and let some air get to it," Uncle Sam wiped my hand down with an antiseptic wipe, "I'll check it before you go to bed tonight," He picked up the bandages and trash and stood up to throw them away.

"There, see, was that bad?" Daddy asked me, brushing my hair back from my face, "We need to brush your hair, it's getting all tangled."

"Don't care," I said dully.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Daddy said.

"I can't stop thinking abut things. I dream about everything and it gets all twisted up and it's scary. I want it to stop but I don't know how to make it stop."

Daddy sighed, putting his arm around me. "I wish I could help you, I don't know what to tell you."

"I'll see if I can get in touch with Missouri, maybe she can suggest something," Uncle Sam said. "Hey, there were some puzzles in the closet, let's try and work on one together."

"Yeah, let's get you off of this sofa, come on," Daddy pulled on my arm.

"No, I don't wannaaaa," I whined.

Uncle Sam brought over a couple of boxes and set them on the table. "Come pick one out, Charlie."

Daddy stood up and pulled on my hand. "Up, let's go."

I sighed and got up. I walked over to the table with Daddy and chose a puzzle that was a drawing of a bunch of wild animals in a jungle.

Daddy opened up the box and we began to sort through the pieces together while Uncle Sam heated up water. He made hot chocolate for us and brought the mugs over to the table along with a bag of potatoe chips.

"Castiel stopped by while you were sleeping," Daddy said, "He brought these for you because he said that you said you eat chips when you're sad?" he gave me a look.

"No, he said that she said she eats chips for breakfast when she's feeling sad...is there something you want to tell us?" Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows.

I sank down in my chair a little. "Yeah, I ate some chips with breakfast!" I said defiantly, "I was feeling sad 'cause you guys left and it did make me feel better!"

Daddy chuckled. "All right, I'll give you that."

"Well, I hope you don't try and make a habit out of that, or you and I are going to have words," Uncle Sam said, but he was smiling at me.

We drank the hot chocolate and ate potato chips as we worked on the puzzle together.


	71. Chapter 71

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for those of you who have left comments and kudos, I enjoy reading what you think about the story! The exercise that Missouri has Charlie do is a real exercise that is useful for dealing with traumatic memories and also with worries, if you have a lot of anxiety and worry a lot.   
> *****************

"Owww, Daddy! Stooooopp!" I whined, putting my hands up to my head. "I want Uncle Sam to do it!"

"Hold still, I'm almost done," Daddy said as he brushed my hair.

"You're making it hurt!" I snapped.

"No, it hurts because you've been laying around not taking care of yourself and your hair's all knotted," Daddy retorted.

"OW!" I shrieked, and scooted forward on the sofa, away from him. I turned around and glared at him, shoving myself into the corner.

He sighed with annoyance. "Charlie, come here and let me finish."

"No!"

Uncle Sam walked into the room holding his laptop. "I've got Missouri onscreen, are you ready to talk to her?" he asked, coming over to us.

"Yeah, except that Charlie's got messy hair," Daddy grumbled.

Uncle Sam set the laptop down on the coffee table. There was a small camera attached to the top of the computer. He sat down next to me and adjusted it. There was a big window open onscreen with Missouri in it and a smaller window to the side showing Uncle Sam.

"Here she is," he said, pulling me over next to him.

"Charlie, how you doin', baby?" Missouri asked with a smile.

I felt tears come to my eyes. I missed her calm assurance and wished I was there with her.

"I'm..."

"Don't tell me okay, child, 'cause I know you're not. Your Grand-daddy and Uncle told me otherwise. You havin' problems with nightmares?"

"Yeah," I admitted, "All the things that have happened to me, and the stuff that I've seen, it all gets mixed up in my head and I dream weird things. I can't go back to sleep, I don't want to sleep."

"I understand. It can be hard to process all a' that, and hard to let it go."

"Yeah, I can't—I can't stop thinking about stuff sometimes and the feelings are still there and it's upsetting."

"Well, do you want to try and do an exercise that should help you?"

"Okay," I agreed.

"All right, sit back and get comfortable. I want you to close your eyes and imagine as I talk, all right? Take a deep breath for me now. And another...good. I want you to imagine a box, it doesn't matter what it looks like, it's just got to be strong and well-made, that you can close up and lock."

I imagined a rectangular box made of of light colored wood, with a hinged lid.

"You got that in your mind?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Now, I want you to take all the things you've seen, the memories that have upset you, and I want you to place them in the box. The things you saw when you were at my house, Miss Lettie, and Big Luke, all a' the upsetting ones too."

"How—how do I do that? I mean put the memories in the box?"

"You can imagine that each thing you saw is like a photograph, or a book. Or something else that takes your fancy. What do you see?"

I imagined making what I had seen about Miss Lettie into a photograph. I held it in my hand and then put it in the box. Then I did the same thing with Big Luke. Then with the girl from PT whose boyfriend had hit her.

"I'm making each memory into a photo and putting it in the box..." I said slowly.

"Good, I figured that would work for you. Keep going."

I imagined what I saw when I was in the panic room as a photo, but it made me feel nervous. I jerked my eyes open.

"What's that, child?" she leaned forward slightly.

"The thing I saw...when I was in the panic room, the man with the black eyes..." I swallowed, "It's still too scary."

She sighed. "That was a strong seeing, because it happened recently, and so intense. Do what you can with it, try again. Take a deep breath."

I took another breath and closed my eyes again. I forced myself to imagine each thing I had seen, and make it into a photograph. Then I put each one in the box.

"Okay, it's done," I told Missouri.

"All right, now close the box. Make sure the lid fits securely. Now you want to lock that box somehow, it can be a padlock, or chains, whatever you want. But you're the only one who can unlock and open that box."

I imagined that there was a big, thick padlock on the outside of the box, and I clicked it shut. "Okay," I said.

"Now, when you start to think about those things, if you do, remind yourself that they been put away for now, and that you aren't going to think on them. You want to take them out and deal with them later, you can. But you aren't going to spend time thinking or worrying, remind yourself that they been put away. Think you can try to do that?"

"Okay, yeah."

"You may need to do that exercise more than once, but you've got a strong mind, and I think you got it this time around. Now, there's something else I want you to do too. I want you to take a bath, a long soak in a hot bath, with some herbs in it, and right before you get out I want you to think about what you saw when you was in that panic room. And you're gonna let it out of you into the water, however you want to imagine, and when you let the water out you're gonna tell yourself that it's all gone down the drain with the water, and it's not in you anymore. Sam, I'll give you a list of herbs to use, all right?"

"All right, there's a supply here, and we've got some in the trunk too," Uncle Sam said.

"I gotta go pee," I said, standing up. I walked down the hall and went to the bathroom quickly, avoiding the mirror. Grandpa John had found another mirror and replaced the one I had broken, but I didn't look in it anymore.

I walked back out to the living room and stopped right before the end of the hallway when I heard Missouri speak.

"-child is way too thin, you said she ain't eating either?"

"Not eating or sleeping well," Daddy said.

"She's had it rough...she's learning about what's really out there, unfortunately."

"She said she doesn't want to feel it any more, she doesn't want this!" Daddy's voice was angry.

"Well, this is an adjustment period," Missouri explained.

"What do you mean?" Daddy asked.

"She's not just depressed?" Uncle Sam chimed in.

"All folk who have gifts go through this, a time when they're learning to accept it and deal with it...you don't want it, you want to be 'normal'. Most people don't go through this until they're older, but Charlie's gifts surfaced when she was young. Once she works through it, she'll be okay. You can help her by supporting her and letting her know that you love her no matter what, and you'll be there for her."

"Castiel said he could remove her abilites. What if I let him? She would be...happier."

"Dean Winchester, I cannot believe that you are even considerin' that! Taking away her abilities would- would change who she is fundamentally, it could change everything about her!" Now Missouri was the one who sounded angry.

"But- then she'd be happy, she wouldn't be hurting any more."

"How do you know she'd be happy? You don't know that at all. Why, she may have a big role to play in the future because of her abilites. She may save lives or prevent bad things from happening, you just don't know. She has those gifts for a reason and a purpose, and if you get rid of them you'll be changing her destiny! That is about you, Dean Winchester, and what you want!" Missouri snapped.

"Do you know what it's like, seeing her crying and in pain and just-overwhelmed by everything she's feeling? It's awful!" Daddy's voice was full of emotion.

"I know it is, baby, I been there myself. But listen, that's gonna be part of your life as her parent. You're gonna have to stand there and watch as she cries over failing a test or losing a friend or breaking up with a boyfriend. Pain is part of life and you can't protect her from everything."

"I know that but I don't want to give her extra pain, and this ability is more of a burden than a gift, it's too much."

"That's another thing that you're just gonna have to deal with. Your life is dealing with the supernatural, and she's in the life with you, because she's your child. The fact that she's psychic has put her more into it than a kid who has no special abilities, and that's just part of accepting it. She's gonna be in the hunting life with you, more attuned to the supernatural, more attracted to it and it to her, because of you. You want her to be more normal? Then you gotta get out of it yourself."

"I can't-I can't do that, hunting is all I know," Daddy said hesitantly.

"Then you gotta accept that she's in it with you and take steps to protect her more and help her deal with things better."

"How can we do that?" Uncle Sam asked, "I mean how do we know how much of this is her dealing with things and how much of it is—is depression? Because that's what it looks like to me. When do we intervene?"

"Is she getting worse, or better? Or is it just the same?"

"I think she's worse," Daddy said.

"No, she's kindof leveled out. She just lays around now, sleeps, doesn't want to do anything," Uncle Sam said.

"People need a lot of rest after a traumatic experience. And people with abilities who've been through an experience like Charlie went through may need a longer time to rest. She's coming to terms with what's out there as well as dealing with the physical strain it put on her. As long as she's not getting worse, give it a little more time. Call me next week and let me know how she is."

I walked back out to the living room and went over to the sofa.

"Charlie, is there anything else I can help you with?" Missouri smiled at me.

I shrugged. "Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome, sweetie. Sam, let me give you that list of herbs."

Uncle Sam leaned forward and picked up the laptop. "Let me go into the pantry and see what we've got in there," he left the room.

Daddy looked down at me. "You feel any better?" he asked.

"I dunno," I said.

"Hopefully you'll sleep better tonight," he put his hand on my back.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"I don't wanna sleep in here, and I'm not gonna!" I said loudly.

"Charlie, it's time for you to go to bed now," Daddy said.

"I'm not sleeping in here! I wanna be with yoooou!" my voice came out as a whine.

Daddy sighed. "Charlie, what does it matter where you are? You'll be asleep."

I looked at him. He looked tired, and he had dark circles under his eyes and stubble on his chin. I hadn't really been apart from him since they had gotten me out of the Panic Room. I refused to sleep on my own and didn't like to be alone. I felt guilty for all that, seeing how worn out Daddy's face looked.

"Come on, lay down," Daddy pulled the covers down on the bed.

I stomped my foot. "NO!" I shouted.

Daddy looked annoyed. "Charlotte Anne, do not raise your voice to me."

"Daddy I don't wanna go to sleep in here, I wanna be with you. Please?" I wheedled.

He sighed again and rubbed his face. "Charlie, I need..." he sighed again, heavier, looking at me.

I knew what he was going to say, 'I need a break from you'. Tears filled my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I just...when I'm alone, I start thinking about things, and it gets...scary," I whispered.

"Well, didn't you just do that exercise with Missouri and have that special bath with the herbs? Didn't all that make you feel better?"

Uncle Sam had drawn a bath for me and put herbs in it like Missouri had told us about. I had felt better when I got out of the tub, lighter somehow.

"Yeah, but I'm still scared...what if everything comes back?"

"Then you come and get me. But you need to try to go to sleep on your own."

"Okaaaayy," I sighed and got into bed. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came in, and all three of them hugged and kissed me. Daddy tucked the covers around me, and they left the room.

I tried to stay in bed, but I couldn't. I didn't like to be alone any more, being alone reminded me of when I had woken up in the Panic Room, and when I had been pounding on the door, and when I had been crying and wondering where I was. Being with Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John made me feel safe.

I grabbed my Hello Kitty pillow and blanket and got off the bed, padding out the the living room.

Daddy and Uncle Sam were standing at the kitchen island with bottles of beer, and there was a bottle of brown liquid open on the counter, with two small glasses next to it.

I cringed when I saw Daddy's disappointed look when he saw me.

"Daddy I couldn't help it!" I protested.

He came over to me, taking the blanket out of my arms. "Lay down, close your eyes, not a word. Go straight to sleep."

I laid down on the sofa. Sometimes when he let me fall asleep out here I'd listen to their conversation and chime in, and I know it annoyed him when I did that.

He leaned down and covered me with the blanket, kissing the top of my head. I closed my eyes and let the sound of them talking quietly and the crackling of the fire in the stove lull me to sleep.

I woke up hearing Uncle Sam say, "You should slow down with that, Dean. You're gonna have a raging headache tomorrow."

"M'fine," Daddy said off-handedly. I heard the sound of a top being taken off of a bottle. "Y'know, with the angel offering to take away Charlie's abilities...kinda starting to wonder if maybe that wouldn't be a good thing."

"But- they're part of her, like Missouri said. It might- it might change her somehow." Uncle Sam said.

Daddy huffed a laugh, but it had no humor in it. "What, it might make her happier? More like a normal kid?"

"Dean...you know she's not going to be normal. Even if she didn't have abilities, she wouldn't be normal, she's a hunter's child, and there's no normal there."

"I don't want her to have this life Sam, I don't want her to have the kind of childhood that we had, you know? She's already starting to lose her innocence, and I hate seeing how upset she gets."

"But Charlie's a strong kid, we already know that. She'd already been through an awful lot by the time we got her. She'll get through this. Missouri said it's an adjustment period that everyone goes through," Uncle Sam said reasonably.

Daddy's voice was thoughtful, "What if, y'know, I could get Castiel to remove her abilities, and then, y'know, she could go and live with a normal family somehow...have the childhood I never had. She could go to the same school for years and not move around, she could make friends and grow up with them, she could graduate and go to college. She wouldn't have to be involved in the hunting life or have it touch her in any way."

I froze. Did Daddy mean what I thought he meant? He wanted me to leave him and live with a normal family? He wanted to give me up? I felt stunned and hurt, and tears came to my eyes. I turned my head into the pillow as the tears started to flow.


	72. Chapter 72

I tried not to cry or make noise. But soon I was crying so hard that I was sniffling because my nose was all plugged up. I heard Daddy and Uncle Sam chatting, in between my sniffles, and then I felt a hand touch my shoulder.

I turned my head and opened my eyes. Daddy was standing there, with a bottle of beer in his hand, looking down at me. "Charlie, what's wrong, why are you crying? Did you have another nightmare?"

I sat up and glared at him. "I'm crying 'cause of you!" I exclaimed, wiping my face with my hand, "'Cause I heard what you said! You want to give me up!"

Daddy looked shocked. "Uh—Charlie-that-that's not what I said-"

"Yes it is! You want to take away my abilities and then make me go live with a normal family, that's what you said!"

Uncle Sam came over and stood next to Daddy. "Honey, that's not what he-"

"Charlie, I didn't mean- I mean, I was just thinking out loud-" Daddy said weakly.

"If you didn't mean it then why did you say it?" I shrieked, feeling angry, "and you were thinking about it! You just said!"

Daddy leaned down and reached for me, and I batted his hand away. "No! You don't want me, you never wanted me, you just want to give me away to someone else and go on hunting because that's all you've ever done!" I screamed, tears pouring down my face now.

I shoved at him as he tried to hug me, and then I curled up in a ball on the sofa and hugged my pillow. I felt deeply hurt by what he had said, and it just brought back all the uncertainty I had felt when I had first started to live with him. He wasn't used to being a dad, he didn't know how to be one, and all he knew was hunting. Having a kid held him back from his job, from what he knew and loved to do. And now that my mommy was dead and my daddy didn't want me, I felt alone in the world. Completely and totally alone. I realized I was making a loud high-pitched whining sob, but I couldn't stop.

Footsteps pounded into the room, and Grandpa John stood at the end of the hallway, brandishing a long gold knife. He looked around, and then sighed. "Jesus, I thought there was a banshee in here! What the hell's going on?"

I sat up and grabbed my blanket. "Daddy doesn't want me, that's what's going on!" I glared at Daddy and ran out of the room, slamming the bedroom door and climbing up to the top bunk. I covered myself with my blankets and curled up in a ball.

In a couple of minutes there was a knock on the door.

"Charlie?" I heard Daddy's voice, sounding hesitant. I didn't come out from under the covers.

Footsteps came over to the bed, and then I heard him speak. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, that's the last thing I wanted to do. I've had too much to drink tonight, and I've been under a lot of stress...I know that doesn't excuse what I said."

I pushed the covers off of me and sat up, giving him a look. "Mommy said that the truth comes out when people are drunk!" I snapped, and I saw Daddy and Uncle Sam look at each other and do their 'talking without words'.

"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't mean what I said, and I do want you, I'd...I'd never give you up," Daddy insisted.

I dropped my eyes, turning away and curling up in a ball again. I felt a hand on my back. "Charlie, please, can you answer me? Talk to me?"

"NO!" I shouted, moving away from his hand, "Leave me alone!"

He pulled on my arm. "Charlie-"

I turned back to him. "NO!" I shouted again, "I don't wanna talk to you! Don't talk to me! I wish I never met you! I wish my mommy was still alive! I wish—I wish I had died at the campsite with her!" my voice rose to a shriek and I started crying harder.

Daddy looked shocked. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John looked shocked and scared too.

"You—you can't mean-" Daddy started to say, but I cut him off, "Leave—me—ALONE!" I glared at him, and then pulled the covers back over my head.

I heard footsteps leaving and the door closing, and then a few minutes later there were loud voices, it sounded like arguing, coming from the living room. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but then the voices rose to shouting, and I heard the sound of glass shattering. The front door slammed very hard.

Nervous, I climbed down off of the bunk bed and ran to look out the window, which faced the side of the cabin, where the vehicles were parked. The outside motion sensor light had turned on, and Daddy was next to the car, pacing back and forth. I could see white puffs of breath coming out of his mouth in the cold air as he talked to himself. He stopped and kicked the front tire, then jerked the car door open and sat down. I saw him wipe his eyes, and then he slumped over the steering wheel.

I woke up when I heard the door open again. It was morning, and bright sunlight was coming in the windows of the bedroom.

I pushed the blankets off of my head and turned. Daddy and Uncle Sam stood next to the bed, looking at me.

Daddy had a sheepish look on his face. "How are you doing?" he asked softly.

"I'm terrible, thanks to you!" I snapped.

"Charlie, I made pancakes, come eat, and we can talk," Uncle Sam said.

"I don't want to talk, I have nothing to say," I said to Uncle Sam, "and I don't want to be around him," I shot Daddy a glare.

"Charlie, I'm sorry," Daddy's voice broke. "Please-"

"Come out to the living room-" Uncle Sam said.

"No, I'm not hungry, and I don't want to talk. Go away." I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him, ignoring Daddy.

"Charlie-" Daddy said hoarsely. I glanced over at him- he was crying! Tears were in his eyes, and a tear had tracked down the side of his face.

I hardened my heart, and turned away from them. If he didn't want me, I didn't want him either.

I heard Uncle Sam say, "Come on, Dean, let's give her some space," and then they left the room.

I woke up again when there was a knock on the door. Uncle Sam came into the room carrying a tray.

"It's lunch time," he told me, walking over to the bed. "Would you come down and sit on the bed here and talk to me?"

"Don't wanna talk," I sat up and crossed my arms.

"I think we need to talk about...things."

"I don't have anything to say," I lifted my chin stubbornly.

Uncle Sam sighed. "Fine. Will you come down and eat while I talk?"

"Not hungry."

Uncle Sam sighed again. "All right, I'll leave the tray on the bed here so you can eat if you get hungry later." He leaned down and put the tray on the end of Daddy's bed.

Then he came over and stood next to the bunkbed, looking me in the eyes. "I know you're upset and hurt," he said, "But you have to believe that what your Dad said...he didn't mean it. He would never give you up, and if he ever actually thought about it...well, Grandpa John and I wouldn't let him. We're a family, and we belong together. And we're all glad that you're part of it, honey."

Uncle Sam's face looked so earnest and worried, it made me get tears in my eyes.

"Then why...why'd he say that stuff?" I whispered.

Uncle Sam looked down for a moment. "I think...he's had a lot on his mind lately. He's been worried, things have changed quickly for him, and all of us, over the past couple of months, and it's all catching up with him. He's been more stressed than usual-"

"Because of me and all the stuff with my abilities," I said bitterly.

"Well...it's not your fault, none of this is anyone's fault, it's just...all of this is a lot to take in. I think we're all going through an adjustment period."

"But you didn't want to give me away! He did!" I pointed out.

"Charlie, he was just talking, he really didn't mean that. Both of us had always wanted a normal childhood when we were kids, but he hid that and just lived the life that our Dad put us in back then. And being with you has re-awakened those feelings in him, and so he's processing those feelings for the first time because he doesn't want his kid to have the same childhood he had."

"But I don't, Missouri said that I already don't. And I'm me anyways, not him."

Uncle Sam chuckled. "Yes, you certainly are you, Charlie. And you're one of a kind."

He reached over the bed railing and put his hand on my arm. "Are you sure you don't want to come down and talk? Or at least eat?"

I shook my head. If I was going to have to leave them I didn't want to spend any time with any of them any more, so that it wouldn't hurt as much.

"Well...I'll leave the food in here for you, and you can come out and talk to any one of us any time, okay?" He gave me a small smile, and then left.

I leaned over the bed railing and looked at the tray. It was a grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of tomato soup and potato chips. My stomach rumbled a little bit, but I didn't eat. I laid back down in bed and stared at the ceiling and thought about things. Uncle Sam said he wouldn't let Daddy give me away, but it was Daddy's decision in the end. I didn't understand why Daddy had said those things if he didn't mean it. And anyway, maybe it would be better if I wasn't with him. When they went on hunts I was always scared and worried the whole time, that they wouldn't come back. What if they went on a hunt and got killed, what would I do then? Maybe I should ask the angel to get rid of my abilities and go to a normal family. I wouldn't have to worry about a normal family dying or getting hurt, or dealing with seeing unhappy things, or getting kidnapped by supernatural creatures.

I stood by Mommy's bedside in the hospital as the monitors that she was hooked up to all started to beep that same long beep, and doctors and nurses rushed in and pushed me out of the way. After a few minutes they stopped and one of them came over to me and said, "I'm sorry, she's gone." I started to cry, and someone put their arms around me. It was Daddy. He hugged me while I cried, and then I started to hear growling.

"Dean, watch out!" I heard Uncle Sam yell. Daddy let go of me and we turned, just in time to see a huge wolf-creature come bounding up and jump on Daddy. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came running behind it, firing guns at it, but it didn't stop the monster. It bit Daddy's neck as he yelled, and then his eyes closed. Then it jumped on Uncle Sam, knocking him down and biting him too. I started to scream, "No! Noooo!"

"Charlie!" Grandpa John said loudly. Someone was shaking me. I opened my eyes and turned my head- he was on the end of the bunkbed, leaning forward and shaking my arm.

"What were you dreaming, darlin'?" he asked gently.

"E-everybody died or was g-g-gonna die," I heaved out.

"Come here," he gently pulled on me, but I leaned away from him.

"No," I moved my knees up in front of me and wrapped my arms around them, putting my head down.

I felt Grandpa John place his hand on the back of my head and rub it as I cried. "It was just a dream, you're safe now," he told me.

After a couple of minutes, my crying had stopped. I wiped my wet cheeks with my blanket and sat up, looking over at him.

"Are you okay? Can I—can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Don't care," I said dully.

"Listen, I know this has been rough for you...Missouri told me what you talked about. All of this, what you've been through, your abilities becoming stronger, trying to learn how to control them- it's all been difficult. Learning about the supernatural world and what's out there is tough too," he shifted on the bed.

"You know, your Dad found out pretty early on, but we hid it from Sam for a few years. When he found out, he was angry for a good long while. Angry at me, angry at your Dad. It was hard for him to accept too, but he did eventually. Another thing that makes it painful is that you've had a family member- pass- because of the supernatural, and that makes it harder to deal with too. It adds a level onto grieving that most people don't have. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I know that you're feeling hurt by what your Dad said...but he didn't mean it. He'd never mean to say or do anything to hurt you. He'd never really give you to someone else, and Sam and I would never let him do that either." He reached out and put his hand on my arm.

"None of us want to see you hurting, we just want to protect you and help you. All of us love you, Charlie, and we're all happy and grateful that you've come into our lives. None of us would ever change that for anything...I hope you can believe that. And I hope that eventually you can let go of that anger you're feeling. We love you, sweetheart, and we don't like to see you hurting," he squeezed my arm and then let go.

I looked at Grandpa John. I had felt like he hadn't like me to start with, but that wasn't true, he just hadn't known how to deal with having a grand-kid. He could be intimidating when he was mad, but he had always been protective of me and done things to take care of me.

"Can I live with you?" I asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Can we go somewhere, and it just be me and you? And Daddy can keep hunting and doing what he wants."

He shifted again and looked down at his hands in his lap. "No, sweetheart, I'm a hunter too. And I'm...I'm hunting something specific, and I'm not... stopping until I get it. Your place is with your Dad. And we're all family, so we belong together. We'll make it work somehow."

I turned away, making my heart hard again. "Never mind then. Just go away."

"It's just about dinner time, I've got hamburgers made. Will you come and eat with us?"

I shook my head.

"Are you sure? Come on, Charlie."

I shook my head again.

He sighed. "We're here for you, when you're ready."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I shivered in the cold. I had waited until it got dark and everyone had gone to bed, then I had dumped out the toys in my backpack and packed some clothes. I had arranged my pillows under the covers of the bed, grabbed the little flashlight by the door, and then snuck out. Daddy had been asleep on the sofa, with a mostly-empty bottle of alcohol on the coffee table in front of him.

It seemed like I had walked for hours and hours through the forest. There were sounds every once in a while, branches snapping or birds calling or crickets. In some places the trees were thick, in others there were a lot of vines and bushes. When it got to the point where my legs were hurting, I stopped at the next area where there were a lot of trees close together. When I shined the flashlight up, the branches looked like they overlapped with each other. I tried to climb one tree and couldn't get a good hand-hold or foot-hold, so I tried another tree. I was able to climb that one, it had strong branches close to the ground. I found a thick branch further up, and settled on it with my back against the trunk.

I pulled a small package out of my coat pocket- there had been a small pile of pancakes wrapped in plastic on the top shelf of the refrigerator, and I had taken it. I removed the plastic and ate the pancakes, swinging my feet a little.

The next thing I knew I felt like I was moving. I jerked awake, and realized I had fallen asleep in the tree, and then I must have lost my balance. I was falling out of the tree!

Suddenly there was a sound like the flapping of wings, and I landed right into arms that were covered in a tan raincoat.


	73. Chapter 73

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, I've been meaning to clarify some things with the story as far as when it takes place within the show and the ages of Sam and Dean. Pretty much everything that happened in season 1 happened to them, with the exception of the car accident, because John is still alive. Sam went to college, met Jess, and she died on the ceiling. In this AU, Dean and Sam are in their 30s. Any of the big story arcs in the show (Sam getting addicted to drinking demon blood, the apocalypse, Lilith, the whole deal with the vessels, Dean going to hell, etc.) didn't happen. The Winchesters have basically been tracking and chasing YED and ganking ghosts and monsters this whole time. In chapter 23, when Charlie is sick and having fever dreams, she dreams things like seeing Sam in a white suit and Dean chained up and calling for Sam. These were not meant to be things that happened in the past that she was seeing, but rather different realities that could have been. I meant to have Missouri explain this to her, and she did talk about it a little bit with Charlie, but those particular details just got lost in the shuffle. Castiel has come into the picture because Mary's spirit had asked him to watch over Dean, and by extension Charlie, and now that she is on the demon's radar because of her abilities, Castiel decided that it was time to make himself known. Ultimately, this is an AU, and it's how I want it to be. If you have any questions about things that happened, or comments about things you want to see happen or you think should happen, let me know. I love hearing from you!
> 
> Phew! You still with me?   
> **********************

"Charlotte Anne Winchester, what are you doing out here?" a gravelly voice asked. It was Castiel.

It was just starting to get light out, and I could see his face in the dim light.

"What are you doing out here?" I retorted, shivering.

He leaned over and placed me on the ground. "Your father summoned me to the cabin, he woke up and could not locate you. He and John Winchester spent some time searching the woods near the cabin for you, and then he called on me. I must take you back to him."

"No!" I put my hand up, "I don't wanna go back there!"

"Why not, Charlotte Anne?" he tilted his head slightly.

"Because he—he said he wants you to take away my abilities and then give me to a normal family! He—he wants to get rid of me!" Tears filled my eyes again.

"Your father loves you very much, I cannot think that he meant to say those things. Are you sure you are not mistaken?"

I stomped my foot. "No, I'm not mistaken! He'd been drinking a lot, he and Uncle Sam were drinking beer and some other kind of alcohol. My mommy said 'in veeno vurteetas' which she said means that when you're drunk, you tell the truth."

"Strictly speaking, that is untrue. Alcohol can lower one's inhibitions, but it is not a truth serum. Although it seems like a lot of humans do have issues with mistakes that occurred as a result of them drinking too much alcohol. I do not understand why they drink so much when there is so little benefit and such a wide margin for error in behavior when one has imbibed too much," he paused a moment like he was thinking, and then shook his head, "I must take you back to your family, they are worried about you."

I stepped away from him. "No, I don't want to go!"

"Where do you want to go then? You are quite chilled and need to get warm."

"Can you take me to... my friend's house? Her- her name is Missouri and she lives in Lawrence, Kansas."

He thought for a moment, and then nodded. He took my arm, and then-

-we were standing in Missouri's kitchen. She was wearing a big fluffy bathrobe and a scarf around her head, and she had pink fuzzy slippers on her feet. She turned from the counter, holding a mug in her hand. When she saw us her eyes got big and she startled, jerking her arm, and spilling hot tea all over her hand and wrist.

"Mother of Pearl!" she yelped, "Land sakes, what are you doin' here, child? How in the world did you get in here?"

"I, uh, the angel brought me," I said awkwardly, "Missouri, this is, um, Castiel, he's a, uh, a angel of the Lord and my guardian angel."

She set the mug on the counter and grabbed a dishtowel, wiping her hand off and grimacing slightly.

She stepped up to him. "It is an honor to meet you, sir," she said, "I don't know if I should shake your hand, or genuflect, or cross myself!"

He held his hand out, and she took it. "Your skin is burned from the hot tea, let me heal it," Castiel placed his other hand on top of hers for a moment.

"Oh! Thank you," Missouri said. She looked up at him. "I can feel it, your power...it's like energy humming. You are an angel. My goodness, I never thought I'd see the day that I'd meet a real angel!" she patted their hands, "This is such a blessing, I'm just—I have so many things to ask you, but I'm speechless!" she chuckled, and let his hands go, "Missouri Mosely, get ahold of yourself, woman," she muttered, and shook her shoulders.

She turned to me. "Charlie, as much as I love seein' you, I don't get the feeling that it's a good thing. What's goin' on with you, baby?"

I was expecting her to be angry with me for just showing up in her kitchen, but she wasn't. The kindness in her voice made the tightness in my chest that I'd been carrying around relax, and I burst into tears. She pulled me into her arms- her bathrobe was soft and fuzzy- and held me while I cried.

I started to talk, to tell her about waking up in the Panic Room and what I had seen, and the nightmares, and smashing the mirror, and how I felt scared to be alone now, and what I had heard Daddy say.

"Oh, honey, you gotta know he didn't mean that, he'd never ever want to give you up. Come on," she walked me to the living room and sat us down on the sofa. She handed me some tissues, and I blew my nose and started to talk and cry again. She enveloped me in her arms again as Castiel walked around the room, looking at everything.

I told her what Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had said to me, and about hearing them shouting, and Daddy crying. I finished by telling her about running away.

I looked up at her. "I'm sorry I came here, I just didn't know what else to do," I hiccuped.

Her mouth was set in a thin line. "Don't you worry, child," she said, "I'll talk to your daddy and set things right."

She let go of me, pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and scrolled on it, then pressed a button.

"Hello, Dean, yes, honey, I know she's missin'...she's here with me now," Missouri paused, "Well, the angel brought her. They just showed up in my kitchen not 10 minutes ago. She's fine, she feels a little cold, and she's been cryin'..." her voice changed to stern, "Dean Winchester, what the hell were you thinkin', talkin' like that in front of your daughter? Is your father there? Well, you tell him I said to smack you upside your damn fool head!"

She stood up, listening, and glanced down at me. "Yes, she's fine, Dean, she ain't hurt, she walked through the woods and climbed a tree and fell asleep in it. Well, you made a big mistake, boy, she's thinkin' you're fixin' to give her up, and her heart's just about broke!" She moved the phone away from her mouth and said to me, "I'll be back in a moment, I want to talk privately to your daddy."

She walked out of the room and I heard a door close.

Castiel looked at me. "She is an...interesting woman. A lot of power resides within her."

"She showed me how to control my abilities some," I said.

"Yes, I know. That is what brought you to the attention of the demons. When someone with abilities such as yours begins to use them and exercise them, and gain more power by learning control, it is like a beacon, broadcasting those abilities to those creatures who operate on the higher wavelengths that psychic abilities travel on. I decided to step in before things became more unsafe for you."

"What—what do you mean?" I asked, feeling scared.

"The demons have been watching your family because John Winchester has been tracking a specific one for many years. They employed the shapeshifter that you came in contact with recently, he was supposed to kidnap you and take you to a particular demon. Something happened so that he was forced to leave before completing his plan, and then he began his crime spree. That was to be the last thing he did after kidnapping you and then harming Dean's other child and his mother."

"What?" I was shocked, "The shapeshifter was...was supposed to hurt Lisa and Ben? Was he..." I felt almost too scared to say it, "Was he gonna kill them?" I whispered.

"I do not know for certain, but I believe that that was part of the plan," Castiel replied.

I started to cry, and hugged myself. Missouri came back into the room.

"They're leaving this morn- oh, honey, what is it?"

"Cas—Castiel said that the shapeshifter was working with demons and it was s'posed to take me and kill Lisa and Ben-" I heaved out, "What if he had taken me? What if he had killed them?"

Missouri walked over to me quickly and sat down, hugging me again. "Don't borrow trouble, child, none a' that happened, right? All a' you are safe and sound, and your Daddy and Uncle got that shifter."

She looked up at Castiel. "Sir, I know you mean well, but you really got to think on what you say to this child before you say it! She ain't privy to everything in the supernatural world like her father is!"

"My apologies," Castiel said.

"All right, child, like I was saying, they're leaving as soon as they pack up, it'll take them about 22 hours to get here if they don't stop for the night. I don't think your father wants to stop, and knowing how he drives I'm sure he'd like to drive straight through and he'd make it here in 19 hours or less. I'm pretty sure your Grand-daddy will convince him to stop for the night to rest. They're gonna call back later in the day, and I want you to think about talkin' to him, hear? And then tonight we may do a conference call on the computer like y'all did with me recently. They want to see with their own eyes that you're okay."

O-okay, Missouri," I wasn't sure how I felt about talking to Daddy. I still felt very hurt by what he said.

"Now, are you hungry? Let's get you fixed up with somethin' warm, you're still feelin' cold to me."

We went into the kitchen and she made me hot chocolate, toast, and instant oatmeal. Then she took her bathrobe off and handed it to me to wear.

"Would you like anything, Mr. Castiel?" she looked at him expectantly.

"No thank you, I do not need to eat or drink. And it's just Castiel, there's no 'Mr.' in front of it."

"All right then. Let me get my tea, and I'd like to talk to you in private, if I may. Charlie, there's some orange juice in the fridge if you want some, after you eat." Missouri picked up her mug, and she and Castiel walked back to the living room.

I took a sip of hot chocolate and a bite of toast, then picked up the spoon and began to eat the oatmeal. It made me think of Uncle Sam and how he had made oatmeal at Uncle Bobby's, and shared with me and hadn't gotten upset when I ate it almost all gone.

Thinking that made me miss him, and suddenly a wave of longing for all three of them swept over me. I started to cry, and tears ran down my face and dripped off my cheeks into the bowl of oatmeal.

I started to think about things. What was I doing here with Missouri? Why had I tried to run away, in the middle of the night? I could have gotten hurt by a wild animal. If Castiel hadn't been there right when he was, I could have hurt myself falling out of that tree. And I wasn't supposed to leave the cabin and go outside either. I was going to be in so much trouble. But then, if Daddy was going to give me away, I guess it didn't matter.

I wiped my eyes with a napkin and finished my oatmeal, then took the bowl to the sink and rinsed it out. While I was eating my toast, Missouri and Castiel came back into the kitchen.

"Were you crying, sweetie?" she asked me.

I nodded. "I just, um, miss them..." my voice cracked, "But everything is all mixed up inside," I whispered.

"I know, baby, and we're going to talk about that," she said, "Let me get dressed, and then you and I can practice blockin' again if you want. I want to see if you can still do it as well," she looked at Castiel, "Is it all right that we do that?"

"Yes, practicing blocking is different than when Charlotte Anne reads something," Castiel told us, "I will return later."

There was a sound of flapping wings, and he was gone.

"My goodness, that's amazing," she said with awe in her voice.

"Daddy keeps telling him to use the front door, but Castiel doesn't rememeber," I said, and she chuckled.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, you go on to the living room," she left the room, and I finished my toast and took my mug to the other room, sitting on the sofa.

Missouri came into the room with a lit smudge stick, and she smudged us, and then sat down after she set it in a dish by the window.

"Now, have you been practicin'?" she looked at me expectantly.

"Um, a little bit," I said.

We did some deep breathing, and then I imagined the flower in my head. At first, I wasn't able to block her, but after a couple of tries, I could do it. I felt tired after we practiced a few more times. I hadn't slept well in the tree either, and that was making me sleepy too.

She pulled an afghan off the back of the sofa. "Lay down here, Charlie, and rest a while. I'll wake you when it's time for lunch."

I took my shoes off and laid down, and she tucked me in. I fell asleep in no time at all.

 

We were sitting in the kitchen eating leftover red beans and rice and corn bread in the afternoon.

"This is yummy, I never had it until I met you, I really like it," I told her.

"I'm glad," she smiled at me. "Now, honey, we need to talk. Your Uncle Sam called me earlier and told me what happened yesterday, and what's been going on recently."

I stared down at my bowl, feeling my eyes get wet. "I was—I got real upset," I said in a low voice, "I didn't mean to be so mean," I looked up at her, "Daddy said he wants to give me away!"

"Child, were you listenin' to everything he said? At the beginning, he said, 'what if?'. He was just wondering about it...he wasn't makin' plans. He'd never give you up, and if he ever actually did I think he'd have a fight on his hands, because Sam and John wouldn't let him go through with it. All three a' those men love you somethin' fierce."

There was the sound of wings, and Castiel appeared in the kitchen. "She is telling the truth, Charlotte Anne," he said, "I can see into people's souls, and your father has a deep abiding love for you that will never change, only grow. He had hidden many positive emotions having to do with love, deep within, because of the trauma he experienced when he mother died. But you have brought many feelings to the forefront for him, and while he is sometimes intimidated by them, he does love you immensely and would never do anything to harm you. Except when he strikes your rear end, which I am given to understand is a way of disciplining misbehaving children?"

I blushed. "Uh-"

"Of course, that does no lasting harm or damage to the buttocks. Here," he held out a huge bowl that he had in his hands, "I brought this for you, to... 'cheer you up'—that is what it is called when one brings an offering of food to one who is sad?"

He set the huge bowl down on the table. It was like a giant ice cream sundae, with lots and lots of scoops of ice cream, whipped cream all over, chocolate sauce on one part, caramel on another part, and strawberry sauce on the rest. There were rainbow and chocolate sprinkles and little pieces of crumbled cookies and chocolate chips sprinkled throughout.

"My goodness, what in the world is that?" Missouri asked.

"It is called a 'Kitchen Sink Sundae', the menu said 'it is guaranteed to turn a frown upside down'. And since a frown that is upside down is a smile, I thought it would work in helping your sadness to go away," Castiel seemed proud of himself.

Missouri and I looked at each other land laughed. She got up and got three spoons out of a drawer, and handed them out.

"I do not eat or drink," he reminded her.

"Thanks for bringing it to me, Castiel," I got up and hugged him.

"You are squeezing me again," he said.

"Yeah, people hug when they thank people sometimes too," I told him, sitting down.

"Would you like to at least sit down?" Missouri asked him.

"No, I will observe. This house is not that well protected, so I must be on the alert."

Missouri bristled, "I beg to differ, I've got several wards in place and I've done many protection spells over the years."

"My presence here is keeping Charlotte Anne hidden for now. Your wards are failing, and they are not strong enough to keep out the more powerful demons and entities."

"Oh my lands, well, we've got to talk about that later," she looked nervous.

"Yes, we can do that. For now I will stay here to make sure that you are protected."

"Thank you," Missouri said gratefully.

Castiel walked out of the room.

She looked at me. "Charlie, I know all a' this is new to you, and you're still learning...you're all still learning. But you got to remember, your Daddy is the one in charge. He and your uncle and grand-daddy have been doin' what they do for a long time now, and if they tell you that you don't need to know something, then you don't need to know. Throwin' attitude and demanding to be included ain't gonna work."

I blushed again, and stared down at the table.

"I know you're a good girl, you got a big heart, but you need to remember that they're tryin' to keep you safe. You have special abilities, but that don't put you on the same level as a hunter. After all is said and done, you're still a little girl who needs to listen to her family and obey them." Her tone was mild, but I knew she was scolding me.

"I'm gonna be in so much trouble for running away," I whispered, "Daddy said I wasn't s'posed to go outside at all right now 'cause it was too dangerous."

"Why did you run, child?" she sat back and looked at me.

I lifted my head and looked back at her. "'Cause I was still so hurt and—and mad about what he said. I figured if he didn't want me, I didn't want him either, so I should just leave."

"Hurt him before he hurts you more."

I blinked, surprised that she had put into words what had been in my heart. "Yeah," I said hoarsely.

"You can't do that, honey, I know you were upset, and a big part of your adjusting to livin' with them has been you feeling insecure. It will go away, in time, but you need to not keep on lettin' it get in the way. You didn't listen to everything your Daddy said, and you wouldn't listen to any of them when they tried to talk to you after. Why? Because you're a stubborn Winchester, just like the boys, just like your Grand-daddy John," she shook her head, "You stubborn Winchesters are gonna be givin' me gray hairs."

"I—I couldn't help it, I was just so- my feelings were hurt, and I felt so mad...it was hard to let the feelings go. I keep having the feelings from the things that I saw too, I have trouble getting them out of my head."

She frowned slightly. "I'll have to see if maybe I can teach you how to release things," she said, "Let me do some reading about that and see if I think you could handle it."

Castiel walked back into the kitchen. "The Winchesters are stopping for a meal, and they will be calling very soon."

Missouri looked at me sternly. "You talk to your Daddy, and you tell him you're sorry, and you listen to every single word he says, hear?"

"Uh—yes, Missouri," I said, as her phone rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Charlie mispronounces the phrase 'In vino veritas', which is Latin for, "In wine, there is truth".


	74. Chapter 74

Missouri picked up her phone and pressed a button. "Hello, Dean, how are things... you are? You made good time then. Yes, she's right here, hold on..." she held the phone out to me.

I took it from her and took a deep breath. "H-hello?"

"Charlie?" Daddy's voice sounded uncertain.

I wasn't sure what to say. "Hi, Daddy," I said, and my eyes filled with tears.

"How are you?" he asked, and I could hear the emotion in his voice. He sounded like he was trying hard to stay calm.

"I'm okay...how are you?" I asked.

"I'm, uh...glad to hear from you," his voice shook a little, "Charlie, I'm so so sorry that I hurt you, I wasn't thinking, I was just talking. I would never, ever, give you up. You've got to believe that. Do you believe me?"

I sniffled. "Yeah. Castiel said he could see into your soul an' that-that you love me a lot."

He huffed a laugh that sounded like a scoff. "That son of a-"

"He saved me, Daddy, I went to sleep in a tree and fell out, and he was right there to catch me! I fell right into his arms!"

"Well, I'll have to thank him for that," Daddy said stiffly, "I'm actually kinda pissed at him for taking you to Missouri's."

"I—I said I didn't want to go back to you, so he asked where I wanted to go."

"He still shouldn't have done it," he sighed, "At any rate, I'm so glad you're safe and okay. You scared me, Charlie."

I remembered how his face had looked, after I'd gone outside recently, and I had realized that he was scared. And I had done it again, I had disobeyed him and scared him.

"M' sorry, Daddy," I said quietly.

"We'll talk more about it after we get there. I miss you," his voice shook slightly again.

More tears came to my eyes as I realized that I missed him too. "Daddy-" I sobbed.

"Don't cry-" he said, and it sounded like he was almost crying too, "Listen, we've got to get back on the road. We're going to stop for the night later and set up a video call on the computer when we do, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

"Be good for Missouri..." it seemed like he wanted to say something else.

"I will. I-I love you Daddy," I said.

"I love you too," he sounded relieved, "Bye."

"Bye," I hung up the phone and handed it back to Missouri.

She disconnected the call and put the phone in her pocket. "They should get here by early evening tomorrow, so I want to go to the store and get a roast. Come on, get your coat, and let's go."

I got out of my chair and went to the living room to put on my coat. Castiel was in the living room, looking out the window. Missouri came to the door. "We're going to the store, Mr. Angel, you want to come along?"

"Yes, I should accompany you," Castiel agreed.

He followed us to Missouri's car, and got into the back seat with me.

She turned around with a surprised look on her face. "What're you doing back there?" she asked him.

"Why?" he asked, "I sat with Charlotte Anne in the back of her father's vehicle."

"Oh. Normally, adults sit in the front, but whatever you want to do, honey," she chuckled.

I helped Castiel buckle his seat belt.

I took the angel's hand when we got out of the car. He looked down at me with a surprised frown. "Why are you taking my hand?"

"I'm s'posed to hold hands with a adult in the parking lot," I told him.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because of cars driving real fast."

"If a car drives faster than it should, I will stop it before it causes any damage," he said with assurance.

"Well now, don't be showin' off your angel powers," Missouri said to him.

"If it is a matter of saving Charlotte Anne's life, I will do what needs to be done."

Missouri looked at him. "You really are her guardian angel?"

"I am," he nodded.

"All right then, let's go," she pulled a cart out of the kiosk next to her car.

We walked into the section of the store with fresh fruits and vegetables.

"I do not understand why people have to purchase these items. Why is food not made available to all who need it?" Castiel asked.

"Because the people who grow the food and harvest it need to get paid for their time and effort," Missouri explained.

"Can everyone just share the work load and then share the fruits of their labors when it is finished?"

"No, other people have other jobs that they do, they can't all farm. It's a full time job growing things."

"Why do people have jobs and have to make money in order to live? It seems like it adds a lot of un-necessary stress to human's lives."

"You got that right. It's just...the way it is. Ain't no such thing as a free lunch, someone's always got to pay for something," Missouri said.

"I do not understand why-"

"Mercy, you ask more questions than a 4-year-old! Go over there and bring me back a 2 pound bag of those carrots, would you?" Missouri pointed to a shelf across the room.

Castiel sorted through the bags, piling several of them on top of each other and pulling a bag out of the bottom of the pile. He walked back over to us and presented them to Missouri. "These were the freshest ones," he reported.

"Thank you," she said, taking the bag from him, "All right, I need some sweet potatoes too, five of 'em."

Castiel got them for her, taking his time sorting through the bin of sweet potatoes and picking 5.

We were walking through the bread aisle when a woman came up to us.

"Hello, Missouri!" she said with a broad smile. They hugged and kissed each other's cheeks.

"Well, who's this then?" the woman looked from Missouri, to me, then to Castiel, who was hanging back from the cart and studying the different types of bread on the shelves.

Missouri said slowly, "This is Charlie, she's the daughter of a family friend, she's stayin' with me for a couple nights, and..."

"That's my uncle, Casti—uh, Cas, he's, uh, he's not from around here!" I piped up.

"This is a friend of mine, Clara," Missouri said to me.

"Nice to meet you," I said, and she nodded and said, "Nice to meet you too," she looked at Castiel, "So, where are you from?"

"He's, uh, from...from-"

Missouri stepped close to Clara and spoke quietly. "He's got a heavy accent and it's hard to understand him, so he doesn't like to talk much. He's pretty shy," she patted Clara's arm, "You make sure you call me when you get the next shipment in, all righty? We got to get a move on here."

She walked over to the cart, and gestured to us. "Come on, you two, let's go."

As we walked away, she looked down at me, "Don't ever give someone more information than they need. Because you said he's not from around here, she wanted to know where he was from. People are curious like that. You notice I side-stepped the question."

"Yeah, you're good at that!"

"Lots of practice, child, lots of practice." she chuckled, "Uncle Cas! Now I've heard everything!"

Castiel pulled a package of pita bread off of the shelves. "This is similar to what the Israelites ate," he told us.

An older man who was walking by us gave Castiel a funny look, and Missouri took the bread from Castiel.

"Don't be advertising the fact that you're an angel, remember," she said quietly.

"My apologies. I just was not expecting to see that type of bread, the recipe is centuries old," Castiel said.

Missouri looked at him. "Were you around when they were baking their bread?"

"Yes, I was," he said, "I was not permitted to interact with them, that was the job of my brethren."

"Well, you're just full of surprises!" Missouri put her hands on the handle of the cart. "Let's get this shopping done so we can get outta here and I can stop worrying about people overhearing you."

Castiel walked beside me quietly for the rest of the trip. When we got back to Missouri's, I helped her make dinner, and afterwards we prepared vegetables to go in a slow-cooker for tomorrow's dinner, and then we baked banana bread together. We chatted as we worked, and she asked me lots of questions about things that had been happening.

Finally her phone buzzed. "They're at their hotel, stopped for the night, and Sam's setting up his computer for the video call. Let's go get ready," she said, after looking at her phone.

I followed her into the living room and sat on the sofa as she set up her laptop.

There was a big black rectangle on the computer screen. There was a click and I could hear a voice, it was Uncle Sam, saying, "It should be connecting... wait a sec," and I heard the clicking of computer keys.

The rectangle flickered and then it became like a photograph, and Uncle Sam was sitting on a sofa. "There's the picture," he looked into the camera, and smiled. "Hey! Can you see me and hear me?"

Missouri leaned forward. "Yes, Sam, can you see and hear us?"'

"Yeah, I can!" Uncle Sam smiled, and looked off to the side, calling, "It's connected now, get over here!"

He looked back at us. "I tried to connect before and it didn't work, they got tired of waiting. How's it going?"

"It's okay," I said awkwardly.

Grandpa John came over and sat down on one side of Uncle Sam. The picture moved slowly, sightly jerky.

"There she is!" Grandpa John said with a big smile. I could see his dimples. "It's good to see you, sweetheart," he said to me.

Uncle Sam leaned forward and the picture moved as he adjusted the camera. He glanced to the side, and then Daddy was sitting down next to him on his other side.

Daddy looked into the camera, and his face got a little red. "Charlie," he said, and his voice sounded strangled. His eyes got shiny.

"Hi Daddy," I said, feeling tears come to my eyes. He looked so upset, scared and sad.

"Hi Charlie," he said with an exhale. He brought his hand up to his face and wiped his eyes with his fingers.

"It's great to see you, Charlie," Uncle Sam said with relief. His eyes looked shiny too.

I felt guilty, because they were all obviously upset. I squirmed and tried to think of something to say.

"Charlie has somethin' to say to you," Missouri prompted. I turned and looked up at her. She nodded at the computer. "Go on, child," she said quietly.

"Daddy, uh, I'm, I'm sorry I ran away and all that. I'm sorry. I was- that I didn't listen, and didn't, y'know, talk. To you, or anything."

Daddy shifted and cleared his throat. "Charlie, I just wanted to say—again-I'm so sorry I said what I did, I wasn't thinking when I said it, and I never want to say or do anything to hurt you.I-I wish you had come and talked to me instead of running away, or talked to any of us," Daddy said, "When we realized you weren't in the cabin—that was-" Daddy sighed heavily and rubbed a hand over his face, and I could see how tired and worried he really was.

He was worried that I was still going to act the way I had at the cabin. He was worried that I wouldn't forgive him. I had upset him, all of them, and I had scared them. I had disobeyed the rules that Daddy had made to keep me safe. I was going to be in so, so much trouble. Realizing this made me feel even more guilty, and that made me uncomfortable.

"I—I ran away 'cause of what you said, so all this is your fault, not mine, and you should be in trouble, not me!" I exclaimed hotly, trying to push my guilt away with anger.

Now Daddy looked shocked. His face got even more red, and he closed his eyes for a long moment and put his hand up to his face again.

Grandpa John got angry. He sat forward. "Hold on, little girl, you need to re-think that statement. Yes, your father said something he shouldn't have, but you made the decision to act the way you did after that, and you made the decision to run away. Nobody forced you to do any of that, so yes, you are in trouble."

"It's not my fault," I insisted stubbornly.

"All right then, let's list everything that you did wrong. You yelled at your father and uncle, and later ignored your father, which is disrespectful. You refused to eat, come out of the bedroom, or talk to any of us, which is disobedience, you put pillows under your covers so that we'd think you were in bed, which is lying. You went outside after you'd been told not to and already been punished for it, and you ran away. You put yourself in danger, a lot of danger, by doing that." Grandpa John was looking straight into the camera by now, and I felt like he could see right into me. I squirmed in discomfort.

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" he asked sternly.

"Dad, it's okay," Daddy wiped his eyes, "It's my fault-"

"No, Dean, you can't let her off the hook for any of this. He's out there, Dean, he's active, what if he'd gotten ahold of her? You explained to her how dangerous demons are. Charlie's got to face up to the consequences of her actions," Grandpa John looked over at Daddy.

Daddy sighed heavily. "You're right," he said. He looked at the camera. "You are in trouble, Charlie, but we'll deal with that after we get there."

I gulped. "Yes, Daddy," I said meekly, "M' sorry."

I noticed Daddy had a cut on the corner of his lip and Uncle Sam had a bruise on his cheekbone.

"What—what happened?" I asked, "Why do you have a cut on your lip, Daddy?"

"Oh, uh," Daddy looked sheepish and glanced at Uncle Sam, "We, uh, things got a little physical when we were arguing about... you running away and all."

I felt shocked. "You-you mean you—you hit each other?"

Daddy nodded. "Sometimes things end up that way, it's the way brothers are."

"But—but you hurt each other!"

"No lasting damage was done," Daddy shrugged.

It worried me that they had argued and then hit each other because of me. It made me feel even more guilty. I looked down at my lap.

"How much more travelin' do y'all have to do?" Missouri asked.

"I'd say about another 8 to 10 hours, we should be there tomorrow evening," Grandpa John replied.

We all sat there for a moment, not sure of what else to say. Daddy shifted and cleared his throat.

"We made banana bread after dinner tonight!" I told him, smiling at him. He smiled back at me.

"That sounds good...save me a piece, okay?" he said easily, and for a moment it was like the old Daddy was there, before all of this had happened.

"We made two loaves, so there will be some for all of you!" I said.

"Sounds good," Uncle Sam said.

"Well, it's getting late, shouldn't you be getting to bed, Charlie?" Daddy asked.

"Uh, yeah...good night," I said, "I love you. All of you."

"I love you too," Daddy replied, and Grandpa John and Uncle Sam chimed in, "Love you."

"Go on and brush your teeth and all, and I'll be in to say good night in a few," Missouri told me.

I went upstairs and changed into my pajamas. I had forgotten to pack my toothbrush in my back pack, but Missouri had gotten out an extra one for me and set it on the edge of the sink. I did my night-time routine, and then grabbed my brush to take it downstairs and have Missouri brush my hair.

I could hear Missouri talking as I came into the hallway outside the living room. "-gonna have to harden your heart, Dean. You can't be lettin' her get away with all a' that, what if Azazel or one of his minions had gotten ahold of her? They'd tear her limb from limb just to get back at you, and you wouldn't be able to live with yourself."

"I know, Missouri, I still feel so damn bad though."

"Let go of the guilt, boy, you got to. Your Daddy can talk to you about feelin' bad and still knowing that you got to punish your child, I'm sure. Y'all can talk more with her when you get here. I'm still not sure she's getting it."

"Well, we're going to make sure that her butt gets it," Uncle Sam said dryly.

"We got to talk about the angel too, he's been tellin' Charlie more than he should have," Missouri said.

"Dammit," Daddy sighed.

Castiel appeared behind me just then, and I stumbled into the room in surprise.

"What are you doing, Charlotte Anne?" he asked.

"Oh, I was just, uh, I need to have my hair brushed," I walked over to Missouri and handed her the brush.

"All right," she said, and then looked at the computer, "We'll talk more later, y'all. Have a good night."  
I leaned over. "Bye, Daddy, good night," I said again. They said good night to me again, and then Missouri shut off the laptop.

"Sit down, here, child," she said briskly.

I sat next to her and turned, and she began to brush through my hair. I felt tears come to my eyes suddenly. "I miss them," I whispered, "Uncle Sam brushes my hair before bed every night."

"I know you do, honey," she said, "Let this be a lesson to you about thinkin' before you act. I know your Daddy did the wrong thing, he shouldn't have said what he did, but your actions made this situation a whole lot worse."

"I'm in a lot of trouble," I said hoarsely.

"I think you are, child," she agreed quietly, "This is gonna be a hard lesson for you to learn. But you got to remember that they all love you a lot and want to keep you safe, and that's why they do the things they do."

She handed me the brush. "Let's go on upstairs and I'll tuck you in."

I was in the same guest room I had slept in before, but Missouri had removed all of the old objects that had been on display. She hugged me and and pulled the covers up, leaving the door open partway. It took me a long time to fall asleep, but eventually I did.


	75. Chapter 75

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have to say I've enjoyed reading all the different view points on the past couple of chapters- Dean's mistake in opening his big mouth in front of Charlie, how she behaved before she ran way, and her ending up at Missouri's. Remember that the Winchesters are first and foremost hunters, they are rough-around- the-edges men who have no idea how to deal with a headstrong, emotional little girl, who also happens to be a stubborn Winchester. So mistakes have been made, and more will be made in the future...people aren't perfect, and parenting can be hard even if you do know what you're doing. I hope you continue to enjoy, no matter what happens! I love hearing from all of you, even if it's something I don't necessarily agree with. Reading different opinions and p.o.v.s helps me to think about things and sometimes helps me "flesh out" scenes a little better in my head. So thanks for all the comments and reviews! XXXOOO
> 
> P.S. -This chapter kinda gets heavy with feels, so you might want to read with a tissue handy!  
> ******************

I woke up slowly, stretching and opening my eyes. I rolled over and gave a yelp of surprise- Castiel was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me!

"Hello, Charlotte Anne," he said in his gravelly voice.

"What're you doin'?" I grumped, "Why're you watchin' me sleep?"

"I do not need to sleep, myself," he told me, "And I am your guardian angel, so I must watch over you."

I sat up. "Well it's—it's kinda weird to wake up an' you bein' right there!"

He stood up and walked over to the window. "My apologies. In the future I will stay over here."

I huffed. "That'll be weird too!"

He tilted his head. "I—do not understand why."

I gestured at him. "Some guy, just standing in my room, watching me sleep? It's like—something out of a bad dream!"

"All right then, I will not stand," he walked over to the rocking chair in the corner and sat down.

"That's better," I said.

"What difference does it make if I am standing or sitting?" he asked, frowning.

"I dunno, it just does," I got out of bed, "I'm hungry, let's go see if Missouri is up."

Castiel followed me downstairs to the kitchen. Missouri was standing at the counter, pouring hot water into a mug. She turned. "Well, good morning, you two." she smiled.

"Good morning," I said.

"Yes, it is morning. What makes it good?" Castiel asked.

Missouri chuckled and shook her head. "It's somethin' that people say to greet each other, and it helps you feel good about the day. Charlie, you hungry?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Oatmeal and scrambled eggs sound good to you?"

"Yeah," I yawned, sitting down.

Missouri busied herself mixing the eggs and getting out a box of instant oatmeal packets. She set it on the table and I looked through them and pulled out one that had blueberries in it. She set a bowl and spoon in front of me, and I poured the packet into the bowl.

"Watch, this is hot," she poured water from a tea kettle into the bowl.

I stirred the oatmeal to mix it, and then blew on it to cool it. Once again, I was reminded of Uncle Sam, because he made oatmeal from scratch. A wave of sadness swept over me. I missed sitting with Daddy and having our morning snuggle. I missed how Uncle Sam always made sure I had fresh fruit at breakfast. I missed how Grandpa John would smile and say "There she is!" whenever I came into the room.

"Charlotte Anne, are you injured? Your face is leaking again," Castiel commented.

Missouri turned from the stove as I wiped my eyes.

"Oh, child, what is it?" she asked.

"I just—miss them is all," I sniffled.

She walked over to me and squeezed my shoulder. "I know, honey. You'll see them soon enough, in no time at all they'll be here!"

I nodded and tried to smile.

In a few minutes, Missouri set a bowl of eggs and a plate of toast on the table. She handed me a plate and set a fork next to me.

"Now listen, I've got some clients today, so y'all are gonna have to make yourselves scarce," she said, sitting down next to me.

"What do you mean, clients?" I asked.

"I do readings for people," she explained.

"You mean, like, you tell them their future?"

She took a sip of her tea. "Well, sort of. I read their energy and I can look into their past. I can sense patterns and help them figure out issues that are goin' on."

"Can I watch?"

She seemed taken aback. "No, Charlie, it's private...why would you want to do that?"

"Well, I mean...could I learn to do that? Like could that be my job?"

She shifted in her chair. "I don't think that's what your father wants for you."

"So? What if it's what I want?" I asked, "I mean, I have these abilities, right? I might as well use them for what they're for!"

She sighed. "Yes, I have to say I agree with you, but...you got other things in your life to consider. You're a real smart girl, and I know if you went to college you'd do real well, and you could do anything you put your mind to. So don't think that all you can do with your future, or all that you should do, is use your abilities."

I folded my arms. "What if I want to be a hunter? What if I want to be a psychic who hunts and helps other hunters?"

She sat back in her chair and shook her head. "Oh, child, I ain't touchin' that one with a ten foot pole, uh-uh. If I say anything about huntin' your Daddy'd have my head. That's gonna be between you an' him."

"He doesn't want me to be a hunter."

"And I can understand why, it's a very dangerous life. It's hard to deal with sometimes."

I had an idea. "Missouri...could I stay here with you? I mean, live here for a while, and you could teach me everything about using my abilities? Daddy wouldn't have to worry about me and he could go hunting and they could get that demon-guy they're looking for."

She patted my hand. "Oh, child, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't think your Daddy would allow it, either...you belong with the Winchesters. Y'all need each other too much."

"But I'd be safe," I insisted.

"Not necessarily. In a way you're the most safe with your Daddy, because he knows what he's looking for and he knows how to best protect you. And you all got to keep workin' on becoming a family. That's your job."

"It is?" I was confused.

"Yes, honey...you came into their lives and opened up their hearts to that which was hidden...all three a' them shut down a long time ago. When Mary passed, they closed off that part of their hearts that has a love for family, but you've brought it out in them. And they've needed it, and you need it too. Y'all are helpin' each other to heal. Do you understand?"

"Uh...kinda...not really."

She chuckled. "Well, you don't really have to. Just know that y'all are meant to be together. Now, finish up and then go and get dressed. My first client is at 9:30."

I went back upstairs and made the bed and got dressed. When I came into the living room, Missouri was moving a wooden room divider over by the front door.

"This blocks off the foyer which is like my waiting room, so nobody can look over into the living room. You got to put a physical barrier up, so people don't see in. I used to just have a sign, and you'd be surprised at how many people don't notice that sort of thing or read the sign. I'd come out and find people walkin' around my living room pickin' up my knick-knacks and whatnot! Once I even found a client in my kitchen, lookin' through my cabinets! He said he was thirsty and lookin' for a glass of water," she shook her head, "Now, you got to be quiet while people are here, and leave us be. I don't want them all up in my business, or you all up in theirs. I'll put a snack on the kitchen table for you, and if you want you can go into my bedroom and watch t.v."

"Can I go out back and swing?" I asked.

"Yes, you can. I don't think it's supposed to be too cold today."

I went out back, and Castiel followed me. I swung for a while, and he walked around looking at all the plants and bushes she had. A lot of them were just bare branches, or green stalks.

"We came here earlier when it was still warm, and the whole place had lots of flowers all over, it was really pretty," I told Castiel.

"You mean like this?" he touched a bush, and it was like it came back to life, growing green leaves and blue flowers all over in a few seconds. He walked around touching things, and in a few minutes, the whole garden was blooming with flowers again.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" I breathed.

"It is something I can do," he said with satisfaction.

I got kinda bored after hanging around, and went into the kitchen to get my snack. I brought the plate of banana bread out to the yard and sat on the swing while I ate.

"Do you want to try some? It's yummy."

"No, I do not," he replied, "but thank you for offering, Charlotte Anne."

"Hey, can you stop calling me that?" I asked.

"That is your name," he said.

"Yeah, but I already told you, I don't like it, it's for when I'm in trouble. Can't you call me Charlie? It's what everyone else calls me. Pleeeease?" I wheedled.

"All right, if it is important to you. Charlie."

"Yeah!" I smiled at him.

He tilted his head and it seemed like he was listening to something.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"There is...the person who is inside with Missouri, they have come under demonic influence before, I must-" he turned and started to walk towards the house. Then he turned back to me. "Come inside, and stay in the kitchen."

I followed him, feeling worried. He walked fast, by the time I had gone inside he was already around the room divider, and I heard him saying, "Missouri Mosely, I must speak with you."

I sat down at the table, feeling nervous. What were they doing? What did that mean? Did the person have a demon inside of them? Then I started to feel scared. What if they had a demon in them and they were here to get me? Castiel had said that the shape shifter was supposed to take me to a demon.

I ran upstairs to the bedroom, and locked the door. Then I started to look around for something I could use as a weapon in case they tried to take me. I couldn't really find anything, so I sat on the bed and waited.

I heard a car engine start, and ran over to the window. The car that had been parked out front was driving away. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and Missouri called out, "Charlie?"

There was a popping sound and the door swung open. Castiel had his hand up like he had touched the doorknob.

"What happened, is it okay? Is it safe?" I asked, rushing over to them.

"Charlotte Anne, I told you to stay in the kitchen," Castiel said. He looked at Missouri. "Should I spank her?"

"What?" I yelped, covering my butt with my hands and stepping away from him.

"That is what her father does when she disobeys him, is it not?"

Missouri gave Castiel a look. "Yes, but it ain't on you. Family's the only one that can do that sort of thing."

"Yes, but I am her guardian angel."

She shook her head, "Well, Mr. Angel, you better take that up with her daddy before you do anything. He'd be mighty angry with you if you did something like that without his permission."

"I will wait. Dean Winchester is still extremely suspicious of me, and I do not want to do anything to make him more upset."

"So, what happened?" I asked, "Was there a demon inside that person? Did you get rid of it?"

"Honey, I'm not gonna talk to you about any of that. It's all right, it got worked out, and it's safe. You don't have to worry. Let's go get you set up in my bedroom with a movie, all righty?"

I got the feeling that she was trying to distract me. We found a Harry Potter movie for rent, and she made me some popcorn and brought me a mug of hot chocolate. I laid down on her bed and watched the movie and ate.

 

"Charlie," I felt a hand on my arm, "Charlie, wake up. Your Daddy'll be here soon." Missouri said quietly.

I sat up quickly, looking at her. "Whaa?" I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. I hadn't meant to fall asleep.

"You slept through lunch, and I let you, you must've needed it," she said, "Sam called me a little while ago."

" 'Kay," I slid off of the bed, "I'm hungry, can I have something to eat?"

"Dinner will be in about an hour, but since you missed lunch I'll get you somethin', come on."

I followed Missouri downstairs to the kitchen. The house was filled with the warm smell of the pot roast in the slow cooker, and it made my mouth water.

"I made some rolls, you can have one when they're out of the oven. You want an apple or pear?" she walked over to the fridge.

"Um, an apple please."

"You want green or red? I got some Granny Smiths, and some regular red ones."

"I like the red ones," I told her.

Castiel came into the kitchen just then. "It is completed, the warding is up," he said.

She straightened up and smiled at him. "Thanks for helping me."

"You are welcome," Castiel replied.

Missouri handed me a shiny red apple.

"Are you still feeling sad? Do you wish for me to bring you some ice cream and potato chips?" Castiel asked me.

"Uh, no, I'm okay," I said.

"Ice cream and potato chips? What's that about?" Missouri asked.

"Castiel took me to get ice cream, but we went to France! He made our molecules go fast so nobody saw us!" I told her.

She shook her head. "What in the world-?"

"Celestial beings travel on waves of light or they speed up their molecules to get somewhere quickly," Castiel explained.

"No, honey, you don't got to explain it to me," she chuckled, "I'm just surprised that you went to France, my goodness!"

"I...made a mistake. I thought that french vanilla ice cream was made in France," Castiel seemed almost defensive.

"And what did Dean have to say about that?" Missouri cocked her eyebrow.

"He was not happy with me, for a few reasons. But I did what I had to do at the time, it was more important that I assist the Winchesters."

"I understand, sometimes we make a choice that ain't the best, but it's the best choice at that time," she smiled at him.

The oven began to beep, and she walked over and pulled out a pan of rolls. She placed a couple on a plate, and brought the plate and a butter dish over to the table. She split the rolls open with a knife and spread the butter, then put one on a napkin and slid it over to me.

"Give it a few seconds to cool, honey," she said. Steam rose from the roll as the butter melted. I blew on it and then took a bite.

"You cook really good, Missouri," I told her.

"Well, thank you, Charlie," she smiled at me.

I was almost finished eating my roll when Castiel moved his head and said, "They have arrived."

Missouri stood up as the doorbell rang. I followed her, butterflies dancing in my tummy with anticipation.

She opened the door, "Hello, long time no see, y'all, c'mon in," and she stepped back to let them come inside.

Daddy walked in, followed by Uncle Sam and Grandpa John, who said, "There she is!" with a smile.

They all stood there looking at me for a moment, and then I rushed forward and threw myself at Daddy.

"Daddy!" I burst into tears as he leaned down and picked me up. I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck, and he hugged me tightly.

"Oh, Charlie," he said, and his voice was full of emotion.

"Daddy m'sorry, m'sorry I ran away and all, I didn't mean to hurt you-" I babbled.

"Shh, it's all right, it's okay, it doesn't matter right now. We're here, and we're together again, and that's all that's important," he stroked my hair as I cried.

"John," Missouri said warmly, as she and Grandpa John hugged. Then she and Uncle Sam hugged.

"I'm so glad to see you, Charlie," Daddy kissed my cheek, and I felt his stubble rasp against my skin.

"How was the drive?" Missouri asked as we walked into the living room.

"It was fine, we found some back roads to take so that we didn't have to deal with the highway," Grandpa John replied.

Uncle Sam fell into step next to us. "Hey, let the rest of us say hello to our girl," he said to Daddy, and I turned to him. Uncle Sam smiled at me and reached for me, and pulled me into his arms for a strong hug.

"I was so worried about you, honey, I'm so glad you're safe," he murmured, "Thank God we've got your guardian angel here to look out for you," he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Let me see her," Grandpa John said, and then I was in his arms, and he hugged me so tight for a moment that all I could smell was his wood smoke smell. He pulled back and looked at me, and his voice was stern. "Don't you ever run away like that again, you do, and you'll be taking a trip across my knee, you got that? "

I gulped, and started to say, "Y-yes, Gran-" but he pulled me in for another hug, and said gruffly, "I don't want anything to happen to you, little one, you're my only grand-daughter."

"You're—squeezing me—too-tight-" I gasped.

"Geez, Dad, let her get some air!" Daddy said, "Give her back to me, would ya?"

Grandpa John gave me back to Daddy and wiped his eyes with his thumb and fingertips.

We all sat down on the sofa, with me sitting in Daddy's lap.

Castiel stood awkwardly off to the side. Everyone said hello to him and nodded, and he said hello back.

"Y'all made good time, I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so," Missouri said.

"Taking the back roads helped, we missed a couple of big traffic snarls on the highway," Daddy said.

"And you drove like a speed demon, just like always," Uncle Sam said with a scoff.

"Well, I've got a pot roast cookin', and I need to make some gravy for it. John, Sam, why don't you come into the kitchen and help me, an' I'll put a pot of coffee on."

They stood up and started to walk out of the room.

Missouri stopped and turned. "Castiel! Come on!"

He looked at her. "Do you require my assistance?"

"We're lettin' these two have some time alone to talk, now come on!"

"I see," Castiel followed them into the kitchen.

Daddy looked at me. "I'm so glad to see you," he murmured, hugging me again.

After he let me go, he shifted me on his lap, and looked at me.

"Charlie, I need to explain something to you," he said, "when I said—what I said, it wasn't about getting rid of you, and it wasn't about you being a burden. It was about wanting a better life for you, and about keeping you safe. I would never just "get rid of you" or "give you away", but if there was a situation where I had to put you with someone for your safety, I would. However, it would be temporary, until the danger had passed, and I'd come back for you. I will always come back, Charlie, I won't ever leave you or send you away for good. You're my family, and that's the most important thing in the world to me. I fight monsters because that's my job, it's what I've been trained to do, and it's what I do best, but at the end of the day, coming home to family is what matters."

He took my hands and held them in his. His face looked serious, but his eyes were sad.

"And I'm so glad that you're part of my family, I'm so glad that we've got each other. I never thought- I mean, I've...been with women through the years, but I never figured I'd have a kid, you know, I'm not the 'settle down and get married with a 9 to 5 and a white picket fence' kind of guy. And when you came into my life...I really didn't know what to do at first, I didn't know how it was going to work. We're still figuring it out...but I am so, so glad that you're part of my life, and I'm so glad that your mother got in touch with me, and that she wanted me to be part of your life."

He blinked, and I could see tears in his eyes. It made me get tears in my eyes.

"You...really mean that? I'm not, I mean, I know I'm bad a lot and all, but you don't...wish you didn't have me, so you could hunt like you used to? I'm not really-" I took a deep breath and forced the word out, "a burden?"

"No, Charlie, none of that is true!" he put his hand up to my cheek, "How you behave doesn't factor into any of this at all, even if you misbehaved constantly and got into all kinds of trouble it wouldn't change how I felt about you or anything. I don't wish that you weren't here, and you're not a burden, please don't think that any more. You've been through so much already, and you're so strong...I'm so proud of you, and I'm proud that you're my daughter."

I started to cry. "You—you are?"

He hugged me again. "Yes, I am, and I know I don't tell you that kind of thing nearly enough. It's something else I'm not used to doing, and I'm sorry. I love you so much, and I'm happy that you're here."

I clung to him as I cried a little. I heard him sniff, and looked up as he was wiping his eyes.

I noticed he still had the cut in the corner of his lip.

"Why did you and Uncle Sam hit each other?" I asked.

"Well, Sam pointed out that I kinda let your behavior go on for longer than I should have. He said that if I had insisted that you come out of the bed room and interacted with us, that you wouldn't have run away, so it was my fault you'd run off. And...I got pissed at him for saying that, and... decked him. And after he got up off the floor, he told me to get my head out of my ass with respect to how I was acting with you and punched me back."

He huffed a short laugh. "Sometimes when Sam and I have a 'discussion' about something our emotions run so high that we end up getting physical. Like I said, it's a brother thing, and it doesn't mean anything in the long run. We're okay."

"You're not still mad at each other for hitting?"

He laughed again. "No, we get over that stuff pretty quick. Sammy's always got good insight too, and so I always try to listen to what he says, even if it pisses me off when he first says it."

Grandpa John came to the door. "Dinner's ready, come and eat."

I got off of Daddy's lap, but he scooped me up into his arms and carried me into the kitchen. As we walked, Grandpa John cupped my cheek and smiled at me so that his dimples showed.

Daddy set me in a chair between him and Uncle Sam. They busied themselves serving me, asking me what I wanted and putting food on my plate, and Daddy cut up my meat while Uncle Sam buttered another roll for me. It would have annoyed me at any other time, but it felt nice to be taken care of at this moment. I realized how much I had missed it- I had missed it before when I'd been taking care of my mom, and I had missed it now, and hadn't even realized that it had been happening. All three of them took care of me in different ways, and although sometimes it annoyed me because it made me feel like a little kid, I did like it. I had been on my own for almost two years, taking care of my mom while she was sick. I looked around at all of them, and told myself I was going to be better at appreciating everything that they did for me.


	76. Chapter 76

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all, I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated. I've been dealing with migraines and health issues and seasonal depression. This time of year is always difficult for me, and recently it's been even more so with all the assault accusations coming out about prominent men in Hollywood and politics. I was sexually abused by a family member during my childhood, so reading about the things that other women have experienced has brought up a lot of old, painful memories and issues for me. I do love my stories and writing but I just haven't been motivated. I'm going to try and keep at it though, because it does make me happy, and I know it makes all of you happy to read my updates! Take care of yourselves right now, physically and mentally, I know winter and the upcoming holidays are rough for a lot of people. I hope you enjoy this chapter. XXXOOO
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: Charlie does get paddled, so do not read if this will bother or offend you.

"Missouri, that was wonderful, I haven't had a pot roast in years," Grandpa John sat back and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I think the last time you tried to cook one, I was still in high school," Daddy grinned, "and it was like trying to eat shoe leather!"

Grandpa John grimaced. "Your mother was the one with the cooking skills, I learned just enough to get by as a bachelor and then whatever we could cook over a campfire in the jungle."

"A jungle? When were you in a jungle?" I asked with a laugh.

"When I was in the war, parts of it, we were tracking and fighting the enemy through the jungle," Grandpa John explained.

"Oh," I looked at the table, "Sorry."

"That's okay, you didn't know," Grandpa John patted my shoulder, smiling at me.

I looked up at Daddy. "Daddy, Missouri makes the best food, you should marry her so that we can eat good food all the time instead of always eating at diners!"

For some reason that made all of them laugh.

"Oh child..." Missouri wiped her eyes after a moment, "Your Daddy's a little too young for me!"

"Then...you could marry Grandpa John!" I grinned at her.

"Hmm, now that I could do," she winked at Grandpa John, "But I'm afraid my time for getting' married is past. And your grand-daddy's heart is still with his wife," she reached over and put her hand on his for a moment and squeezed it.

I yawned just then, and Uncle Sam glanced at his watch. "It's getting late, and we still need to find a motel," he said.

"Let's get the table cleared off and we can go," Daddy moved his chair back and stood up. All of us helped load the dishwasher and put away the leftover food, and then I went upstairs to get my backpack.

They were all standing by the door when I came down.

"I got a couple clients in the morning but everything should be done by early afternoon," Missouri was saying, "I'll call you when I'm finished."

Daddy glanced around. "Where'd the wing-man get off to?"

Missouri waved her hand, "Oh, he comes and goes, he'll be around."

"Has he started using the front door like I told him?"

She made a scoffing sound. "Not yet."

Daddy rolled his eyes. "Great."

"Be nice to him, Daddy, he's my Uncle Cas!" I told him.

"What the he- what's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"We went to the grocery store and a friend of Missouri's started to talk to her and asked who he was, so I said he was my Uncle Cas!" I giggled.

"Well, what's one more weirdo in this strange little family," Daddy said.

"I am not a weirdo, Dean Winchester," Castiel appeared behind Daddy, "I am an angel. I do not know why this is so difficult for you to comprehend."

Daddy jumped, and we all did.

"For crap's sake, would you stop doing that?" Daddy snapped, "Use the front door from now on!"

"Yes, doors, I am trying to remember when it is required to use them," Castiel said, "Are you leaving?" he looked around at us.

"Yeah, it's late, and we need to get some rooms," Uncle Sam told him.

"I will meet you and ascertain if it is safe, and then I will stay and watch over you," Castiel said.

"Uh, no thanks, we've got it covered," Daddy said, taking my backpack, "Come on, Charlie."

I turned to Missouri and hugged her. "Bye, Missouri, thanks for everything."

"Bye, sweetie, I'll see you tomorrow," she hugged me back.

I went over to Castiel and hugged him. "Bye, Castiel," I looked up at him before he could comment on it, "Yeah, we hug when we say good-bye too."

"Humans spend an inordinate amount of time hugging each other and finding other ways to touch," he said with a confused frown, "I do not understand."

"We'll explain it later," Daddy said.

Grandpa John hugged Missouri too, and then we left.

We had to drive to two different motels because the first one had no vacancies. The second one, Grandpa John was able to get what was called a suite. There was a main room, with an area for sleeping, a living room area, and a tiny kitchen, and then there was a room off of the living room area that just had a set of beds and another bathroom in it. Daddy and I took the main room and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John took the smaller bedroom.

I changed into my pajamas and brushed my teeth, then took the brush over to Uncle Sam. He was sitting at the kitchen table looking at his laptop. He turned slightly and I stood in the V of his legs, handing him the brush.

"I've missed this," he told me quietly as he started to brush my hair.

"Me too," I replied, leaning on his leg and putting my hand on his knee.

"When you weren't feeling well, you just laid around for a couple of days and didn't brush your hair or anything. I was getting worried. Done."

I turned around to take the brush, and he pulled me onto his lap and hugged me. I put my arms around him and leaned on his chest. We sat for a few minutes, just snuggling.

"Thanks, Uncle Sam," I said, "I'm sorry for all the times I was, y'know, bad an' sassy with you an' all."

He gave me a squeeze. "It's all right, you don't have to apologize again," he told me, "but thank you."

"I love you, Uncle Sammy," I said quietly.

He chuckled, "I love you too, honey. Sleep well," I felt him kiss the side of my head.

I climbed off of his lap and walked over to the sofa where Daddy and Grandpa John were sitting, watching a baseball game.

"I'm ready for bed," I told them.

Grandpa John sat forward, and reached out to take my wrist and pull me to him. He put his arms around me. "I'm so glad that you're safe," he said softly, "I'm so glad nothing happened to you," he hugged me tightly and dropped a kiss on top of my head, "Good night, little one."

"G'night," I said, yawning again.

Daddy stood up and we walked over to the bed together. He pulled the covers down and I got in bed.

"Will you sit with me until I fall asleep?" I asked, feeling shy all of a sudden.

"Of course I will," he said, sitting down against the headboard. I curled up against his side and put my arm across his chest, and he put his arm around me.

"I missed you, Daddy," I said.

He tightened his arm. "I missed you too...you have no idea how much. I had no idea...I mean I've been in love before, and you know, that's different...I just had no idea how much a person could love their kid."

He put his other arm around me and pulled me to him, so that my torso was laying on his chest. "I love you so much, Charlie," he murmured, and tears came to my eyes again.

"I love you too, Daddy," I told him.

He stroked my hair. "I'm so glad to hear you say that...I was still so worried...I thought maybe you wouldn't forgive me for what I'd said," he sniffed, and I looked up at him. He had tears in his eyes.

"Don't cry, Daddy," I tightened my arms around him, "I wouldn't be like that."

"Well, you are a Winchester, and we're known for being stubborn," he chuckled.

He kept stroking my hair back from my face, and eventually I fell asleep.

I woke up all tucked in bed. I got up and went to the bathroom, then ran over and bounced on Daddy's bed, saying, "Good morning!"

He woke up with a start and propped himself up on his elbow. "Morning," he said hoarsely. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm tired, I haven't really been sleeping well the past couple of nights. I've been...worried about things."

I moved over to hug him. He put his arms around me and hugged me for a moment, then he let me go and pulled back.

"You want to go out for breakfast this morning?" he asked, looking at me.

"Yeah, I want pancakes," I said.

The door that connected the rooms was open, and I could hear quiet talking. I got off the bed and ran over to the door. Grandpa John was standing by one of the beds and Uncle Sam was next to a dresser, buttoning up his flannel.

"Good morning!" I said to them.

"Well there she is!" Grandpa John smiled at me. I ran to him and he opened his arms and hugged me. "It's so good to see you, sweetheart," he said warmly.

He let me go and I went over to Uncle Sam, who swung me up in the air so that I shrieked. He set me on his hip and hugged me, then said, "I bet you want pancakes for breakfast!"

"Yeah!" I agreed.

"Good. You better go get dressed, then," he set me down on the floor and sent me off with a pat on the bottom.

I went back to the other room and got some clothes out of my backpack. Daddy came out of the bathroom carrying his pajamas and put them in his duffle as I got dressed.

"Can I get chocolate chip pancakes?" I asked. We were sitting in the local diner.

"Sure," Daddy agreed.

"I want sausage and a muffin too."

"You should have some eggs," Uncle Sam said.

"I'm tired of eggs, I don't want any," I told him.

He gave me a look. "Then I want you to make sure you have some protein later that isn't fried meat. And you're going to eat some of my fruit plate."

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said.

The waitress brought coffee for them and a glass of apple juice for me.

"Can I have some coffee?" I asked hopefully, giving Uncle Sam my best puppy-dog eyes. Daddy saw me and laughed. "Have you always done that, or did you learn that from Sammy?"

I blushed a little. "I used to do it when I was real little, my mom called it my 'sad puppy face'."

All three of them laughed at that.

"What?" I asked.

"Sam's always done the puppy dog eyes to get his way too, I guess it's something that runs in the family," Daddy said with a chuckle.

"No coffee," Uncle Sam said, and I pouted for a moment.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked, "Are we going back to the cabin, or to where Lisa and Ben live?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "No, uh, we can't do that for a while yet...we're probably going to go to Bobby's."

"I thought you said we were going to find a place to live."

"Well, we will, but right now we're still working on something."

"Hunting that demon-guy?" I asked.

Daddy leaned forward. "Shh!" he hissed, his green eyes intent, "Charlie, you never talk about that stuff in public, you hear me?" his voice was pitched low and intense.

I looked across the table- Grandpa John was frowning and Uncle Sam had a serious look on his face.

"Uh- s-sorry," I said.

"And never, and I mean never, talk about any of that with anyone except someone that's in the life or who knows about it, like Missouri. Understand?" Grandpa John asked sternly.

I gulped nervously at his stern-ness. "Yes, Grandpa John."

The waitress brought our plates over, setting them on the table, and we started to eat. Uncle Sam put some grapes and strawberries on my plate and I ate them without fussing.

I had eaten my sausage and most of my pancakes and my muffin, and I noticed that Grandpa John still had bacon on his plate. He liked to get the meals that had a little bit of everything.

They were all talking about some friends of theirs at that point and not really paying attention. I reached over and snuck the bacon off of Grandpa John's plate.

"Hey now," he growled, and I looked up at him. He grinned at me and winked, so I took the bacon and ate it.

Uncle Sam looked over at us and shook his head.

"That's okay," Grandpa John looked over at Sam, "you want anything else off my plate, darlin'?"

"She needs to finish what's on her own plate, Dad," Daddy said.

"She's my grand-daughter, I can spoil her if I want to," Grandpa John retorted, "You want some more bacon?" he asked me.

"Dad, no, come on, she already had sausage," Uncle Sam said.

"Tomorrow, we'll share a big plate of bacon, okay?" Grandpa John reached across the table and tweaked my nose.

"Okay!" I grinned back at him.

I ate a couple more bites of my pancakes, and then said, "I'm full."

Daddy ate a couple of pieces of my pancakes. "I'm not a fan of sweet stuff at breakfast, but that's not bad."

Uncle Sam called the waitress over for the bill. As we were leaving, Grandpa John said he was going to go to the library to do some research and then get some newspapers.

Daddy drove us back to the motel. After we went into the room, he looked at Uncle Sam, and they did their 'talking without words' thing, and then he said, "Sit down, Charlie, we need to have a talk."

My mouth went dry as I looked at him and Uncle Sam, who now had serious looks on their faces.

"Umm, about...what?" I asked, sitting on the sofa.

Uncle Sam brought a chair over and sat facing me and Daddy stood next to him and crossed his arms.

"About you running away and all that," Daddy said.

I gulped and slid my hands under my thighs. "M' sorry," I said quietly, looking down at my lap.

"What are you sorry for?" Uncle Sam asked, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees.

I glanced up at them. "Uh, for not listening, and being mean, and, and, y'know, running away and all'a that."

"No," Daddy shook his head, "That's not why you're in trouble."

I looked up at him. "Huh?"

"I agree with what Sam said, I let your behavior go on for too long before you ran away, and so that's on me, that's not your fault. However, you did go outside again after I had told you not to. You put yourself in danger, and you ran away."

I looked down again, feeling guilty. "I know I did the wrong thing...Missouri and I talked about it."

"I'm glad you and she had a talk, but what did I tell you was going to happen the next time you went off by yourself without telling me?"

I blushed, remembering when we had been at Big Bear Cabins, and Daddy had said, "...the next time you wander off without telling anyone, or sneak off like you did, I will paddle you."

I glanced up at him. "You said, uh, you'd p-paddle me."

"Do you understand why you're in trouble for this?"

"'Cause I broke a rule, and I put myself in danger."

"I need to explain something to you," Daddy shifted and glanced over at Uncle Sam, "Sam ran away once. He was gone for two weeks. It was...it was hell. We didn't know where he was, if he was dead or alive... even though Dad is a damn good tracker, it was hard to find Sam. Dad was pissed as hell at me, because I didn't call him right away, I tried to find Sam on my own at first. And we were both scared and pissed at Sam."

"Did Uncle Sam get in trouble?" I looked at Daddy.

"You bet he did, big trouble, and he got it from both of us," Daddy said.

"Charlie, when we finally realized you were gone...I've faced down ghouls and vampires and demons, but I've never been as scared as I was when Dean pulled those covers back and we saw your pillows on the bed," Uncle Sam's face looked upset.

I immediately felt horrible for scaring him so badly.

"We had no idea how long you'd been gone or even where to start looking...it's one thing to try and track a person and it's another thing entirely to try and track a person when it's a member of your family that you love and are terrified for," and now it looked like tears were in Uncle Sam's eyes. Daddy put a hand on Uncle Sam's shoulder for a moment.

"When you were gone, when you had been taken by the changeling...those were the scariest couple of days of my life, not knowing what had happened, or if you were okay... or if... if I'd ever see you again," Daddy paused and closed his eyes a moment, and then opened them, "I never wanted to go through that again," Daddy said, and now his eyes looked shiny, "and then to have it happen again, where you were just gone..."

His face got red and he looked upset, and I got off the couch and went over to him. He sat down on the coffee table and hugged me tightly.

I threw my arms around his neck and started to cry a little. "I'm sorry, Daddy!"

"Shh, I know," he soothed me. He let me go and I turned to Uncle Sam and hugged him too. Daddy wiped his eyes with his hand.

When Uncle Sam let me go, Daddy pulled me back over to him and set me on his thigh. He put his arms around me and looked down at me. "That's why I'm so serious about you not wandering off and all that. Do you get that?"

"Yes, I do," I felt myself blushing a little bit. I had always felt like Daddy was just making those rules to be annoying, because I wasn't used to having rules like that, I was used to being able ot do whatever I wanted. He had said these things to me before, but I hadn't really understood how important the rules were until now.

"You knew not to go outside, and you knew how dangerous it is, and you did it anyway," Daddy's face got stern.

"I am sorry!" I burst out.

"I'm glad you're sorry, but there still needs to be a consequence," Daddy said, "This is very serious, Charlie, you could have been hurt or—or you could have—have died." He swallowed uneasily and his face went pale for a moment. "Uncle Sam is going to give you a spanking, with the paddle at the end."

"Uncle Sam? But why?" I asked, looking from Daddy to Uncle Sam.

"Well, I think...our relationship...I said something that hurt you a lot, I made that mistake, and that started this whole ball rolling. And then you ran away which really scared and hurt me, and so, we're both hurting right now, and we need to work on just healing. And I think if I spanked you, it wouldn't help with that. Do you understand?"

I thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Uh...kinda?"

"Do you want to get this over with, or wait until bedtime?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Uh..." I didn't want a spanking right then but I also didn't want to wait all day, that would be awful. "Uh, I don't want to wait-"

"Then let's get this dealt with," Uncle Sam stood up and went over to one of the duffles.

Daddy set me on the floor and stood up. "I'm going to take a shower," he said, going over to his duffle. He got some stuff out, and then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Uncle Sam walked over to the bed and sat down on the end, putting the paddle next to his leg. "Come here, Charlie," he said.

"Uncle Sam, wait," I said quickly, "Can't we, uh, I mean, we already talked about things an' I know what I did wrong and all-"

"Yes, we talked, and the time for talking is over now. Come on," he beckoned me with his hand.

I felt like I couldn't move, I was nervous.

"Charlotte Anne. Come. HERE." his voice was hard now, and he pointed at the floor in front of him.

"Do I need to add more swats with the paddle for not obeying me?"

"No!" I scurried over just then, and he took my arm and guided me over to his side, and then lifted me over his lap. I whimpered as he put his hand on my back, and then his giant paw smacked my bottom. I flinched and cried out, and then burst into tears as his hand covered my bottom with stinging swats. He paused for a moment.

"You will not lie to us, Charlotte Anne. We thought you were in bed for almost a half an hour- that's 30 minutes that you were out there in the woods without us realizing it. That's 30 minutes in which something bad could have happened, an animal could have—gone after you, or—or- a supernatural creature could have taken you!" his voice was hard again, and low.

He pulled my pants down, and then my underpants, and I sobbed aloud as he adjusted me on his lap. He peppered my bare bottom with more sharp swats and I wailed and kicked my feet. He landed several more smacks right in the spot where my butt turns into my thighs, and I wailed again and squirmed on his lap. He paused for a moment, and pulled me closer to him, putting his arm over my lower back. Then he leaned over, and I knew he was picking up the paddle.

"Pl—pleeease Uncle Saaaam, M'sorrrryyyy," I whined.

"You were told not to leave the house or go anywhere without telling one of us," he said in a severe voice, "and yet you did it again. Do you have ANY idea how dangerous that was? You will NEVER put yourself in danger again, young lady, and you will NEVER run away again, is that clear?" Uncle Sam's voice got louder and scarier, and I cringed from how stern it sounded.

The paddle crashed down on my butt and I shrieked and kicked my feet some more. My face was full of tears and snot as I buried my head in the bed cover and sobbed. The paddle fell right below the first swat, and then again below that, and then quickly, onetwothree on the lowest part of my bottom, and I was howling.

I felt Uncle Sam lean over again, and then he was pulling my panties up. My pants had been kicked off of my legs. He picked me up and cradled me in his arms and I sobbed into his flannel as he hugged me.

"Never again, Charlotte Anne, you hear me?" he said sternly.

"N-no, Uncle S-sam, I p-promise," I heaved out.

He kissed my forehead and I felt him stroking my hair away from my face. He held me until I had calmed down, and then he sat me on his lap. I leaned against his chest and put my arms around him. I could hear Daddy's electric razor going in the bathroom.

In a couple of minutes, the door opened and he came into the room.

He walked over to us and sat down next to Uncle Sam. I crawled from Uncle Sam's lap onto Daddy's, and snuggled into his chest.

Daddy put his arms around me. "I want you to stay right with us for now, Charlie. When we're out somewhere, no running ahead in the library or going a couple feet down the aisle in a store to look at food. You stay right next to whoever you're with, at all times, or it's a spanking. You got it?"

"Yes, Daddy," my chest hitched.

He kissed the top of my head. "I want to know where you are at all times also. Don't just go off on your own and do something."

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed.

"Now, let's try and put this behind us. We're family, and no one is getting left behind or sent away, no matter what. Remember that, Charlie, and come talk to one of us if you start feeling insecure. All right?" Daddy looked down at me and brushed my hair off my face.

"Yeah," I said quietly.

Uncle Sam's phone rang and it was Grandpa John. He stood up and went over to his laptop, turning it on and looking something up to help Grandpa John.

"Daddy, can I ask you something?" I asked him hesitantly.

"Sure, what is it?"

I looked down at my lap, feeling a little embarassed. "Well, you haven't—I mean, ever since you said- I mean, after I got mad-" I huffed because I didn't know how to say it. "You stopped saying baby and sweetheart to me," and I felt tears come to my eyes. I swiped my hand across my face. "Is it 'cause you were, y'know, tired of taking care of me and all?" I felt a lump in my throat like I might start crying hard and tried to swallow. I hadn't realized that it had upset me this much.

"I—I didn't try to do it consciously, I guess I was trying to do things to make you less upset with me. I—I didn't want you to keep being angry at me. And I know sometimes you get irritated when I call you baby, and you say you're not a baby," Daddy explained.

"I—I miss it," I whispered, putting my head down so he wouldn't see the tears that had come back.

He tightened his arms around me. "I'm sorry, I didn't think it would upset you. You'll always be my baby, Charlie," he kissed me again and I snuggled into him.

Uncle Sam closed his laptop. "Dad's got a line on something, there's a lot of weather disturbances in Utah that look...familiar. He wants to get on the road."

"All right," Daddy said. He patted my back. "Get up, Charlie, so we can pack our things."

"But—I thought we were going to Missouri's today!" I protested.

Uncle Sam stood up. "We need to leave as soon as possible."

"Okaaay," I said, sliding off of Daddy's lap, "I'm already packed up."

"Good," Daddy smiled at me.

I put my pants back on and went to the bathroom. When I came out, Grandpa John was there. He and Uncle Sam finished packing up while Daddy checked out, and then we got back on the road.


	77. Chapter 77

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you for all your words of support, it means a lot. I'm trying to make sure I do things to take care of my physical and mental health right now, because self-care is important, especially around the holidays. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a lovely holiday with lots of love and good food to eat. Take care of yourselves during this time of year! XXXOOO
> 
> Content Warning: Charlie gets paddled again, it's all Castiel's fault! (you'll see what I mean) Do not read if this will upset or bother you.

"Daaaddyyyy, how much longer?" I whined, putting the coloring book on the seat beside me. "I gotta go pee!"

Daddy glanced at his watch. "I guess we can pull over for a break, it's almost dinner time. Sam, call Dad and let him know."

Uncle Sam pulled his phone out and dialed. "Hey Dad, we need to stop for a rest room break, and it's about time for dinner, we should stop for the night...what?" Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy, "Well, I don't know...I mean, we're going to need to stop and get a room for Charlie and all, you know? She's not used to—I know, Dad, but—listen, can we just stop for a break, and we can talk about it more? All right..." he glanced out the window, "We just passed exit 193, I think the next one has signs for gas stations and all, we'll pull off there, and find a Gas-n-Sip. Okay, see you in a few."

He disconnected the call and glanced at Daddy again, sighing. "He wants to drive straight through, says we should be there in another few hours."

Daddy shook his head. "I know he wants to get there as soon as possible, but I got a feeling about this—it's not going to really matter if we get there in 6 hours or in 12, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know," Uncle Sam agreed, "But he's back to being obsessed and he's not going to let it go, you know how he gets."

In a few minutes, Daddy had pulled into a parking lot, and we got out of the car. I took Daddy's hand and we hurried into the building. Once I was finished in the rest room, I took his hand again as he walked up the aisle with snack food. At the end was a cardboard shelf with blinking lights at the top, advertising that they had fresh doughnuts and pastries at this store.

I tugged on Daddy's hand and tried to step over to the shelf. "Look, Daddy, fresh doughnuts!" I pointed.

He looked down at me, and pulled me back towards him. "Don't you go anywhere," he said sternly.

"I'm not," I said, looking up at him.

He frowned at me. "What did I say about wandering away in a store?"

"I—I wasn't!" I protested, stepping next to him, "I'm still holding your hand, aren't I?" I held our hands up. He relaxed. "You stay right by me," he reminded me.

"Yes, Daddy," I said, not wanting to get into any kind of trouble.

We walked over to the counter that had the coffee machines on it, where Grandpa John was fixing himself a large coffee. "-think we can do it, it's only another few hours," he was saying to Uncle Sam.

"Dad, we should stop for the night. It's not going to matter-" Uncle Sam replied.

"It very well could matter, I think time is of the essence here, and we've got to get out there ASAP," Grandpa John said in a low voice.

Daddy glanced around. "Let's talk about this outside, huh?"

We walked out to the car, and Daddy put me in the back seat. Grandpa John's truck was parked two spaces away, and they stood next to it and talked for several minutes. I couldn't hear them, but I could tell that they were all being serious and close to getting angry.

Finally they came back to the car and got in.

"We're going to go through a drive-through, and keep driving for now," Daddy told me, and we followed Grandpa John to get food.

It was dark, but I had started to notice little flecks in the headlights of cars as they drove past us.

"Daddy, it's—it's snowing!" I said excitedly, "Look!"

"Yeah, I noticed," he said.

I turned to the window and watched the snow falling under the streetlights. "Can we go play in the snow when we stop?"

"I don't know," Daddy said distractedly.

"You don't have any boots, do you?" Uncle Sam turned to look back at me, "I know we got you a coat and hat and all that, but you've only got tennis shoes. We'll have to get you some boots."

"Well, that's kinda a low priority right now," Daddy said, "I'm just trying to keep my eyes on the road here."

"I know, Dean, I'm just mentioning it," Uncle Sam said.

It had started to snow harder, and it was now covering the road and blowing up in puffs of white air.

Daddy finally sighed. "Dude, call Dad, we're gonna have to stop. I don't have snow tires on Baby and I'm a little concerned about driving in this."

Uncle Sam called Grandpa John, and after a heated conversation that lasted several minutes, Daddy got off at the next exit. It took a couple of tries to find a motel with rooms that were available. Apparently the snow had come on suddenly, and travelers were unprepared, so a lot of them were looking for places to spend the night, like us. Daddy finally found a motel with two vacancies, but the rooms were a few doors down from each other.

Uncle Sam helped us bring our duffles into the room. "I'll talk to Dad, see what he wants to do. Thank God this place has free Wi-fi."

Daddy shook his head. "I hope he doesn't want to keep trying to go, we're going to have to just wait this out. I don't even have any chains for the tires, and the guy at the front desk said this storm is looking to be a bad one."

There was a knock on the door, and Uncle Sam and Daddy looked at each other. Daddy pulled a gun out and kept it low.

Uncle Sam walked over and peered through the peephole. "It's Castiel," he said, opening the door.

Daddy said, "Wow, you remembered to use the door finally," as the angel walked in.

"Yes, I am trying, although I do not understand the point of all this etiquette," Castiel said in his gravelly voice. He looked around. "Where is John Winchester? I must speak with him, this is not a wise course of action he is on, the demons-"

"Hey!" Daddy interrupted loudly, jerking his head at me, "Not in front of her, remember?"

"We had to get a room a couple of doors down," Uncle Sam told Castiel.

Castiel stepped over towards me. "Charlie, you left something in the last motel room," he said, pulling something out of his coat pocket. My mouth went dry as he held the paddle out to me.

Daddy came over to him and grabbed it out of his hand, turning to me. "What the hell, little girl?" he growled.

I looked up at him, and then over at Uncle Sam, my mouth going dry. They were both frowning at me.

"I can't wait to hear your explanation for this," Uncle Sam said dryly, putting his hands on his hips.

"I, uh-" my face felt hot as I began to blush. I turned to Castiel and glared at him, trying to cover over my nervousness with anger. "What were you doing, spying on me?" I snapped at him.

"I am your guardian angel, it is my job to watch over you, and I know that humans do not like it when they lose belongings or items get left behind," Castiel explained calmly.

"And just how did you 'leave the paddle behind', young lady?" Uncle Sam's voice dropped a notch.

I glanced at him and stared at the floor. "I, uh- you went into the other room to pack, and Daddy left to go do the check-out thing. You left the paddle on the bed, an' I just...grabbed it an' shoved it under the bed," I said to Uncle Sam, feeling my face get even hotter.

"Damn, I didn't even think to check if it was packed, everything happened so quickly," Daddy said.

Tears came to my eyes. "I'm sorry!" I exclaimed.

"No you're not. This was deliberate, you didn't 'lose the paddle', you hid it so that it would be gone," Uncle Sam's voice was hard, "You're only sorry because you happened to get caught."

"And it's also lying," Daddy said, in an equally hard voice.

I looked up at him in surprise. "I didn't lie!"

"A lie of omission, you did something in secret, that wouldn't be found out until later," Daddy said, "Go stand in the corner."

"But-" I looked up at him, and he narrowed his eyes at me and pointed. "Corner, now."

"I do not understand, the child left-" Castiel started to say.

"Thanks for nothing, you got me in trouble!" I yelled at him.

Daddy landed a hard swat on my bottom. "GO!" he said loudly, and I hurried over to the corner and stood there, tears coming to my eyes.

"Let's go talk to Dad," Uncle Sam said, and I heard him and Castiel leave the room. I heard Daddy walking around, moving things, and the zipper on his duffle, and wondered—hoped-that he was putting the paddle away.

Finally, I heard him say, "Come here, Charlie."

I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and turned. Daddy was sitting in a chair, he had pulled it away from the table. I gulped and walked over to him. The paddle was sitting on the table, and my stomach clenched up with nervousness.

Daddy looked at me for a long moment. "I'm very disappointed in you," he said sternly, "Doing something sneaky like this? Right after everything that just happened with you running away, and putting the pillows under your covers, and all that? I wanted to spend some time just fixing our relationship, not having to punish you for lying."

When he said he was disappointed in me, that hurt, and I started to cry. "Daddy I'm sorry, I won't lie or do that ever again, I p-promise!" I blurted out.

"I want to believe that, Charlie, I do," he said, "But you need to realize how serious I am about lying. We have to always be able to trust each other 100 percent in this life, and that means no lying. We need to be honest about things that are happening, because you have to be able to trust that the people you're working with have your back and they'll work with you and defend you. And there are some supernatural creatures out there that will use lies and deceit to-to mess with you, so that's another reason that telling the truth and not hiding things is important. Family doesn't lie to each other."

I sniffled and swiped my hand across my face. "I'm sorry, Daddy," I said again.

"Well, it's going to take a while for me to feel like I can trust you again," he said.

I gulped, and more tears spilled out of my eyes. "I—I didn't mean for it to—to be like this!" I protested, "I didn't think that—that-"

"That what? That we'd just let it go? What did you think was going to happen the next time I had to use the paddle? 'Oh, the paddle's lost, I guess we won't need it any more', is that what you were hoping would happen? Is that what you thought I'd say?"

I blushed again. "I—I dunno," I whispered.

"Well, you made a mistake, little girl, big time," Daddy said in a hard voice. He pulled me over next to his leg, and then he unsnapped my jeans and started to pull them down.

"Daddyyyy," I whimpered, "What're you doing?"

"From now on, lying is a bare-butt spanking," he said, pulling my jeans down to my knees, and then my panties. He lifted me up and put me over his lap, and I panicked and tried to push up, but there were no rungs on this chair, because the legs were metal and came down in the front only. I tried to push on Daddy's lower leg and move my body up but by then Daddy had his arm across my back and had pinned me down.

"Daddy, please, m'sorry!" I cried out, and he began to spank me. I burst into tears as his hand fell again and again. Even though I'd been spanked earlier in the day, there hadn't really been any leftover pain, but it seemed like now, my butt was on fire almost right away. I wailed and kicked as his hard hand covered my bottom with stinging swats.

He stopped for a moment. "No sneaking something like this ever again, you will not ditch the paddle. And NO LYING," he said in a hard, loud voice that made me shudder. His hand peppered the lowest part of my butt and I sobbed aloud as the sting built up.

He leaned over and I heard the scrape of the paddle as he picked it up.

"Daddyyyy pleeeease!" I wailed, as he tilted me forward on his lap. Then I heard the loud smack of the paddle landing the first time and a second later felt it, and I howled. The paddle fell two times on each side, right on that spot where my butt turns into my thighs. I was crying hard as I heard him put the paddle down. He pulled my panties up, and I laid there sobbing. After a couple of minutes I had calmed a little, and he pulled me upright and into his arms.

"I don't want to have to spank you for lying again, little girl, don't lie to me," he murmured, stroking the back of my head.

"N-no, Daddy, I w-won't," I sniffled. I buried my face in his flannel and put my arms around him, and he hugged me tightly. We snuggled until my chest was hitching every once in a while. Then he set me on my feet. "Go get ready for bed," he told me.

"Y-yes, Daddy," I said, stepping out of my jeans.

"Wait," he picked up the paddle and held it out to me. "I want you to put this in my duffle, in the outside pocket on the front."

I looked at him and gulped. "Do I—do I have to?" I whined.

"Yes," he said sternly.

I took the paddle from him, and walked over to the dresser, where his duffle sat. I shoved the paddle into the pocket and then zipped it closed, and turned to him. He was watching me.

"I'm going to check and make sure that it's there, too," he said, "Understand?"

I swallowed. "Yes, Daddy." I walked over and got my pajamas out, and then went into the bathroom to do my routine.

When I got into bed I winced, because sitting made my butt hurt. Daddy hugged me and kissed me, and I rolled onto my tummy as he pulled the covers up.

"I'm going to go into the bathroom to talk to Sam on the phone," he told me, "even though he's just four doors down, I'm not leaving you alone here."

"Okay, Daddy," I said sleepily. I fell asleep listening to the sound of his low voice behind the bathroom door.

When I woke up, it felt cold in the room. I sat up and shivered, noticing that the light looked funny around the edges of the curtains. I got out of bed and ran over to the window, remembering that it had been snowing last night. As I pulled the curtain over I was confronted with brightness- it had snowed all night, and everything was blanketed in white! I heard a scraping sound, and saw men walking in the parking lot with big metal shovels.

"Daddy, it snowed! Lots!" I exclaimed, runnig over to him and jumping on the bed.

He sat up with a jerk. "Huhh?" he mumbled, wiping his eye with the back of his hand. I pulled on his arm. "Come look! Everything is white!"

He got out of bed and followed me over to the window. "Well look at that..." he said in a rough voice.

"Let's go outside! Can we go play in the snow? I want to make a snowman!" I jumped up and down excitedly.

"Uhh, hold on, kiddo, I just woke up," he said with a chuckle, glancing at his watch. "It's not even 8 AM."

"C'mon, Daddy, call Uncle Sam and ask him! Pleeease?"

"I've got to call them and see what they want to do," he said, walking over to the heating unit. He twisted a knob and pressed a button, and then heater came on. "I don't know why it didn't kick on last night, it's cold in here!" he shivered. He walked over to his bed and sat down, picking up his cell phone. He dialed a number and then said, "Hey, have you looked out the window yet? It snowed a lot last night... yeah, go look," he paused for a moment and then chuckled, "I've got a kid over here who's bouncing off the walls to go play in it. Has Dad seen it yet? Okay...we're going to have to figure out what we're doing, I don't know what's happening with the weather at all. We'll have to see if we're going to get more. I don't want to try and leave, and then end up getting stuck on the side of the road, you know? Yeah. Okay, will do. Bye." He disconnected and placed the phone on the table between the beds.

"Get dressed, kiddo," he told me, "We're going to see if we can find a place to eat breakfast. This motel has a diner attached, hopefully they're open."

I got some clothes out of my duffle, including one of the sweaters that Uncle Sam had bought for me.

When I came out of the bathroom, Daddy was standing next to his duffle, buttoning up his flannel. As I walked by him, he grabbed me and picked me up, hugging me.

"Daddy!" I yelped with surprise.

"I missed our snuggles in the morning," he said quietly. I hugged him back, and wrapped my arms and legs around him, burying my face in his neck.

"I missed it too," I said, feeling emotional. I hadn't realized I had missed it until this moment. When we had been at the cabin I had just laid around for a couple of days on the sofa and hadn't done much of anything.

There was a knock on the door, and we heard Uncle Sam's voice calling, "It's us."

Daddy walked over and opened it, and I shivered as they came in.

"I called over to the diner, they're open, but the're filling up fast," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy put me down. "Put your shoes on so we can go," he told me.

"I glanced at the weather, we're not supposed to get any more snow here, but there's a storm moving ahead of us, right where we need to go," Grandpa John said grimly.

"Well, Dad, maybe we're supposed to just stay here and hang out, huh?" Daddy asked.

"I don't want to just 'hang out', this could be the only chance to get-"

"We're stuck here for now until they get the roads cleared, let's just enjoy the time together," Uncle Sam said to Grandpa John.

I pulled my coat on and put my Hello Kitty hat on my head. "I'm ready!"

Grandpa John sighed. "You're right," he said to Uncle Sam, and he smiled at me. "You don't have any boots?" He leaned down to zip me up.

"Uh-uh," I shook my head.

"I'll carry you across the parking lot then, so your feet don't get all cold and wet," Grandpa John picked me up and set me on his hip. I put my arms around his shoulders.

We walked across the lot to the diner, which was noisy and crowded with lots of people. We had to wait for a few minutes to get a table.

The waitress brought coffee for them and I asked if I could get a hot chocolate.

"You said we could share some bacon," I reminded Grandpa John. He had been looking out the window with a serious expression, but he turned to me and smiled again. "I remember, darlin'," he said, "We'll get a plate just for us, all right?"

"Eggs," Uncle Sam said to me, "I want you to get some eggs this morning too."

I sighed. "Okaaay," I said.

When the waitress came to take our order, I asked for the pancake platter that came with eggs, and sausage or bacon. "Can I have scrambled?" I asked, "and bacon."

Grandpa John got the "breakfast sampler" meal, and then said, "And a side order of bacon, for us," he pointed to me and then himself.

"How many pieces of bacon is in a side order?" Daddy asked.,

"Four," the waitress told him.

"Put in another side order, I want some extra too," Daddy winked at her, "I'll have the steak and eggs, medium, scrambled, with a toasted bagel."

"All three of you are going to be drowning in bacon grease," Uncle Sam rolled his eyes, "And you're supposed to be watching your cholesterol!" he said to Grandpa John.

"A couple pieces of bacon every morning isn't going to hurt," Grandpa John said easily.

By the time we finished eating, a snowplow had come through the parking lot of the diner and motel and cleared everything. There was a large open field next to the motel, and a lot of the excess snow had been piled there. As we walked back to our rooms, we could see lots of people in the field, running around and playing in the snow.

"Let's go over and play, pleeeease?" I looked up at Daddy as we walked, "Look, some people are building snowmen too! Can we? C'mon!"

"Well...all right," Daddy agreed, "For a little while, but we've got to decide what we're going to do."

"You tell one of us if you'e getting cold, Charlie," Uncle Sam said.

"Okay...hey, where are you going?" I called to Grandpa John. He had started to walk away from us.

"Oh, I want to talk to Bobby, see if he's got any updates," he looked a little uncomfortable.

I ran over to him and grabbed his hand. "Come with us, Grandpa John, come help me make a snowman! Pleeease?"

He looked down at me, still uncomfortable, and then his face changed. "All right...I'll help you," he smiled at me and patted my head.

"Yay!" I let of of him and started to run towards the field.

"Charlie! Not too far ahead!" Daddy called. I slowed down and waited for them to catch up with me.

There were two families making a couple different sized snow people, and we helped them for a while. Then Daddy and Uncle Sam got involved with a group of people who were starting a snowball fight. Grandpa John showed me how to make a snowball and pack the snow tightly, and we started to make snowballs for them. I tried to throw some too, but I didn't have good aim.

Uncle Sam turned to me and looked at my face. "We should go inside now, your lips are blue," he said to me.

"M'okay, let's keep playing!" I told him.

Daddy turned and looked at me too. "No, I agree, let's go in and get warm."

I sighed heavily. "Okaaaay."

"Wait," Grandpa John handed me 2 snowballs. "These are the last two I just made, throw them at your Dad and Uncle Sam," he told me with a grin.

"Okay!" I grinned back at him, and threw the first one at Daddy, and the second one at Uncle Sam.

Both snowballs barely hit them, but they laughed.

"Why you little-" Daddy ran over to me and scooped me up, pretending that he was going to throw me in a big pile of snow. I shrieked with laughter, and he carried me back to our room.

After we got changed into dry clothes, we walked over to Uncle Sam's room so that they could make plans. Uncle Sam made coffee for everyone and let me have a cup too, to help me warm up. I curled up on the sofa in a blanket and watched t.v. while they stood around Uncle Sam's laptop looking at maps and stuff and talking. Eventually I fell asleep.


	78. Chapter 78

"I know what the angel said, and I don't care!" Grandpa John's angry bark woke me up. I sat up on the sofa and looked over- Uncle Sam was sitting at the table across the room in front of his laptop, with Daddy on one side and Grandpa John on the other.

"But Dad-" Daddy started.

Grandpa John interrupted. "Look, I don't exactly trust him one hundred percent yet either, okay? If we get on the road now, we can be there by nightfall!"

Uncle Sam tapped on the laptop keys and looked up at Grandpa John. "Look, Dad, the temperature's barely gotten above freezing today, and there's reports of a lot of accidents on the side roads-"

"We're not going to be driving side roads," Grandpa John said stubbornly.

"It's going to drop below freezing as soon as the sun goes down, and you know that a lot of roadways freeze before that," Uncle Sam insisted, "it's not exactly safe."

"Don't you think we should check out what Castiel said, first, before we go on ahead with this?" Daddy asked.

"Dammit, you know how many years I've been searching for him, and he's practically under our noses- I'm not going to just let this go!" Grandpa John's voice got louder. "You don't want to go with me, fine, I'll go on my own!"

"That's not what we're saying, Dad, and you know it!" Uncle Sam gave him an angry look, "Just—wait-and check things out a little more."

"I'm sick of waiting!" Grandpa John yelled, and I started to cry.

"Don't!" I exclaimed, "Don't argue any more!"

All three of them looked over at me. Grandpa John dragged his hand over his face, and then sighed heavily.

"It's okay, Charlie, we're just—expressing our opinions, and we all get a little loud sometimes," Daddy crossed the room and came over to sit next to me, "You feeling warm enough?"

"Yeah," I said. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into his side. "Can we go play in the snow again?"

Daddy chuckled. "I don't think that's a good idea, kiddo, your shoes are still wet. Your other shoes are still packed, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I think you put them in the trunk," I told him, "What're we gonna do about Christmas? I thought we were gonna find a house to live in together."

Grandpa John gave a little huff. "A house, Dean? Why are you telling her these things when you know that what we're trying to do is hunt down this-"

Daddy put his hand up. "Dad, don't. I know, okay? We were just talking the other day, about stuff."

"Let's go over and get some lunch- it's the middle of the afternoon, hopefully the diner won't be busy," Uncle Sam said.

"Sounds good," Daddy stood up, "I'll go get your other shoes, Charlie," he got out his car keys. "Dad? You gonna come too?"

"I don't know, I want to call Bobby again and see if anything's changed," Grandpa John said.

"He told you yesterday that he'd call you the minute he saw anything different," Uncle Sam looked at him.

I got up and went over to Grandpa John, putting my arms around his waist. "Come with us, please? And we can talk about Christmas an' stuff!"

Grandpa John had an uncomfortable look on his face as he looked down at me. I smiled at him, and he relaxed, and gave me a little smile. "All right," he said with another heavy sigh. He cupped his hand around my cheek and I let him go.

My slip-on shoes were cold from having been in the trunk. I shivered a little as we walked across the mostly-cleared parking lot, holding on to Daddy and Uncle Sam's hands so that I wouldn't slip. There were now patches of ice in different spots.

The diner was full of people trying to stay warm, but it wasn't too busy. Grandpa John was distracted and kept checking his phone. After we ordered, he got a phone call, and he got up and walked outside to talk.

I tried to sit quietly, but seeing people still playing in the field made me feel excited about the snow.

"Daddy, have you ever been sledding?" I asked him.

He glanced at Uncle Sam. "A couple times, when we were kids."

"Will you take me sometime? I've never been."

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrows. "You've never been sledding?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh, we lived in the 'partment the whole time, an' there weren't any hills around for us to go sledding on. We never went ice skating either."

"Ice skating seems dangerous, you're sliding around with what are basically razors on your feet?" Daddy shuddered, "No thank you."

"We'll have to take you sledding next time it snows," Uncle Sam said to me.

"Yeah, I wanna go!" I looked out the window, and then back at Daddy. "Can we get a Christmas tree?"

Daddy looked uncomfortable, and he glanced at Uncle Sam again. "Uh, we'll have to see where we are and what's...happening."

I felt annoyed all of a sudden. "But I wanna have a tree! An' do all the stuff that you're s'posed to do at Christmas!"

"Charlie, I said we'll have to see!" Daddy said with annoyance, frowning at me.

"That's not fair!" I pounded the table with my fist.

"That—is--enough-" Daddy said tersely.

"Fine!" tears came to my eyes and I started to slide out of the booth so I could storm away.

Daddy grabbed my arm. "Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere. What did I tell you? I want you right by me."

I tried to jerk my arm away from him. "Lemme go!" I felt annoyed, but also sad.

He leaned down and said in a low voice, "One more thing and we're going back to the room, and you're getting a spanking."

I burst into tears. "It's not faaaaiir! I just wanna talk about Christmas an' all, we didn't do anything the past two years 'cause of Mommy bein' sick, an' I just—jus' wanted-" I put my head down and covered my face with my hands.

"Oh, Charlie," I heard Uncle Sam say.

I felt hands on my arms, and then Daddy was pulling me to sit in his lap. "I'm sorry, baby, I forgot about that," he said sympathetically, "We've never- we don't really do holidays real well, so it's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about. I'm sorry." He put his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

"We'll make sure we do Christmas, and make it nice for you," Uncle Sam said to me.

"I want you to tell us all about Christmas and the things that you did with your mom, okay sweetheart?" Daddy looked down at me.

I sniffled, "I dunno, I can't remember much from before."

"Well, think about some things that you'd like to do, and we'll see if we can make them happen, all right?" Uncle Sam asked.

"That sounds like a good idea," Daddy said, "We can come up with some stuff to do together, make it a Winchester Christmas."

The waitress brought our food, and set all the plates out. Uncle Sam got up to go tell Grandpa John that the food was here, and they came back in with faces red with cold. Grandpa John cupped his hands around his coffee mug.

I slid off of Daddy's lap and onto the seat, and wiped my face, then I started to eat.

I watched as some workmen came from the back of the restaurant and started to string up shiny red and green garland at the front windows. They had a big metal cart that had bins with strings of lights in them too.

"So what's the plan?" Uncle Sam asked Grandpa John.

"Bobby said no change," Grandpa John said, "I'm still thinking about things."

Once we had finished eating, I followed Daddy up to the cash register to pay the bill. One of the workmen was behind the counter, he had been stringing up little lights all around the display case that held the pies and cakes.

"Hey kid, pull my finger," he reached his hand towards me with the index finger out, grinning.

"Excuse me?" Daddy asked in a suspicious voice.

"All right, just give me a boop then," the workman pointed at me, "It's okay, it's not gonna hurt ya. Go ahead!" he grinned, and I looked up at Daddy, who gave me a short nod.

I reached out and touched the man's fingertip with the tip my my index finger, and when I did, the lights in the display case came on.

"Whoa, kid, you got the magic touch!" the man said, laughing.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" I asked, looking at the man and then at Daddy.

"It wasn't me, it was all you!" the man said.

"I'll bet you just flipped a switch back there or something!" I stood on my tip-toes and tried to peer over the top of the counter.

"Shh, don't ruin the magic of Christmas," the worker said, raising his eyebrow.

"All right, thank you," Daddy said, stuffing a couple of bills in the tip jar on the counter. He took my hand. "Let's go."

I woke up to pounding on the door. "Dean, open up!" Uncle Sam was calling.

Daddy got put of bed and hurried over to the door, letting Uncle Sam in. It was barely light out.

"Dad's gone, he left in the middle of the night," Uncle Sam said.

"Aw, dammit," Daddy raked his hand through his hair. "why couldn't he have waited?"

"Let me have the keys, I'll go after him and bring him back," Uncle Sam said.

"Sam, I've gotta go too-" Daddy said desperately.

"Dean, you can't, what about Charlie? We can't bring her with us, it's too dangerous." Uncle Sam reminded him.

Daddy sighed. "All right." he crossed the room and got out his keys, handing them to Uncle Sam. "Where the hell is the angel? We could use his help right about now!"

"I don't know, Dean."

"Uncle Sam, do you have to go?" I asked him, going over to him.

"Yes, honey, I do," he bent down and picked me up. I hugged him tightly. "Be careful," I said softly, "I love you, Uncle Sammy."

He kissed the side of my head. "I love you too, Charlie, we'll be back soon." he set me on the floor, and then nodded at Daddy, and then left.

Daddy rubbed his face. "Well, you want to go see about some breakfast?" he asked me.

"Okay," I agreed.

I went to get dressed, and checked my tennis shoes. Daddy had put them on the heating vent upside down, and they were finally dry. I put them on, and then got into my coat.

When we got into the diner it was full.

"You can wait about 15 minutes, or go sit at the counter," the waitress said.

Daddy looked at me. "What do you think? Counter? We can drool over all the pies in the front case," he grinned at me.

"Yeah, let's sit at the counter," I said. Daddy had to help me get up on the stool, and I spun around in circles as we waited for the waitress to bring the menus.

She poured a cup of coffee for Daddy and said, "Be right back," and hurried away.

We were sitting at the far end of the counter, which was near the hallway that went to the kitchens and had a pay phone and the rest rooms.

"Daddy, I gotta go potty, can I?" I pointed down the hallway.

"Yeah, go ahead," he lifted me down off the stool, and I walked down the little hallway. I could hear the sounds from the kitchen, water running, dishes clattering, and talking. As I pushed open the door to the bathroom, there was a huge crash, like the sound of a lot of dishes breaking, and someone hollered. It startled me, and I tripped as I walked in.

 

 

I came out of the rest room, wiping my hands on my pants, and sat down at my seat.

I looked across the table and waited for Miss Susan to talk. She took a bite of her burger and then a drink of her coffee, and set the cup down. "Well, Charlie, we still haven't been able to find anyone."

"But- I thought you said-"

"There is no one suitable on your mother's side at all, they're all elderly and in retirement homes, or in hospice. And your father- well, there's no one at all."

"But you said you found a file with his name!" I protested, hoping against hope.

Miss Susan looked uncomfortable. "Well...there is..." she glanced to the side, and the leaned forward. "Listen, you can't tell anyone I told you this, all right? I did find your father's name, in a couple of law enforcement databases. Problem is, it's for things like arrest warrants or as a person of interest."

"What's that mean?" I ate a french fry.

"It means that the police think he was possibly involved in a crime or aware of a crime that was committed, and they want to talk to him. Now, if he's got arrest warrants out for him that's not a good thing, and the state wouldn't give you to him because of that, so it's kindof a lost cause." Her phone chimed and she looked at the screen for a moment.

"But- I thought you said you wanted to put me with family if at all possible!"

"And I do, hon, but, it's against the law to place a child with someone who's been in the system. And really, I haven't been able to find out any info about what the warrants were for, so...it's best just to consider that a dead end. I'm sorry, kiddo."

I stared down at the table, willing the tears that had risen in my eyes to go away. I had been waiting, for weeks now, and the disappointment was almost too much.

"So, how's it going over there? You settling in?" she picked up her burger again and began to eat.

"It's...going. I don't like it, it's too loud," I grumbled.

She chuckled. "Well, Doug and Jean do have a full house, but they're one of the only places that usually have a bed available when we need it. And they're good at what they do."

"All it is is chores," I complained.

"I know it's different than what you're used to, but when you've got a houseful of foster kids everyone needs to pitch in to keep the place running, so you can't fault them for wanting to make sure everyone has a hand in things. And it's teaching you responsibility," she said primly.

I looked up at her with a glare. "I had responsibility before, I took care of my mom when she was sick and- and dying!" I exclaimed hotly, tears coming to my eyes again. This time I couldn't make them go away, and they started to slip down my cheeks. I lowered my head and closed my eyes.

I felt her hand on mine. "I know it's been rough for you, hon, but you've got to abide by their rules," she said gently. "Do you want to go back to the counselor and talk some more?"

I swiped at my eyes. "No, I didn't...she didn't really help me." I had had a couple of sessions with Ms. Connie, who tried to get me to "draw my feelings" about my mom dying, and the cancer, and when I couldn't do that, she tried to have us "do some free-form dancing to get in touch with our feelings".

Miss Susan chuckled again. "That's another example of you needing to get with the program, kiddo, you've got to actually talk to people in order to get some help."

"I did try to talk, she just wanted to do all this stuff like have me draw or—or dance. How'm I s'posed to draw my feelings? My feelings are inside of me!"

She smiled. "Good point. Well, it's a technique that helps some people, but she said you were resistant to even talking."

"I don't want to talk, I just want to be left alone."

She shook her head. "You are a stubborn one, I'll give you that. Well, right now you've just got to buckle down and get used to things. Now that I haven't been able to find any relatives, I can start the paperwork to put you in the adoption database, and we can get that started."

I felt a pang of nervousness. "What—does that mean?"

"It's been long enough that with no family available, I can get the ball rolling for you to be available for adoption. There are lots of families looking for young kids, wouldn't you like to find a forever home to live in, instead of a foster home with a ton of kids?"

I swallowed. "I—I guess." The idea of going to live with a family of total strangers wasn't appealing, but if it meant I'd get away from where I was right now, I guess I'd do it.

"Good. I'll let Jean know when the next adoption open house is, and once I get you entered into the system and everything gets processed, you can come to the next one, okay?" she smiled at me.

Her phone rang, and she answered it. "Hey," she said, and then she glanced at her watch, "I'm with the last client of the day, I can be back at the office in about...half an hour or so? Okay, yeah. We'll go over the files then. All right, bye." she disconnected the call and put the phone in her purse. "You need to eat your food, I've got to get you back."

I sighed and picked up my burger. "Okay," I said, and started to eat.

The t.v. was loud when we came in the front door. "Took you long enough," Doug grunted from the sofa. He was watching another war documentary.

Jean came to the living room door. "Go get ready for bed, Charlie, it's late. We'll talk about your chores in the morning."

"I need to talk to you," Jean said, looking at Miss Susan.

"Make it quick, I've still got to go back to the office to work on the case files for court tomorrow," Miss Susan said, "Bye, Charlie."

"Bye, Miss Susan, thanks for taking me out for dinner," I called.

I walked down the hall to the girl's bedroom, and went over to my bed, which was a lower bunk. I knelt down and pulled the plastic bin out from under the bed that was for my clothes, and got out my pajamas. I stood up, sighing, and shoved the bin back under the bed with my foot.

Rachel, the girl on the top bunk, rolled over and hissed, "Some of us are trying to sleep, ya know!"

I ignored her and went to the bathroom to do my nightly routine. Teeth, hair, face, toilet, clothes in hamper. I climbed into my bed and curled up in a ball, sending out hope to the universe that a family member would be found for me, someone, anyone...

 

 

I followed the other kids down to the basement and watched as they stood shoulder to shoulder in a line in front of Doug, who leaned on a metal desk. I felt nervous- I had seen Doug leading everyone down the stairs right after I'd arrived, but I hadn't known what was happening, and no-one would talk about it. Plus I had been too sunk in the grief over my mom dying to care what was happening.

"You two have been here long enough now that it's time for you to get with it," he said to me and Lucy, who had come here a couple days after I had. I glanced at her, standing next to me on the end. She looked as nervous as I felt. The tension was thick in the room.

Doug shifted and crossed his arms. "We've let you have an adjustment period, you've gotten used to the house and the chore system, now you have to learn the rest of it. Every time you don't do what you're required, you miss a chore, or you don't do it to our satisfaction, that's a mark against you. You get mouthy, you disobey, you get bad grades or in trouble for something at school, those are all marks against you too. At the end of each week, the marks will be tallied and you'll get a punishment. Everyone is present for this, because all of you can learn from each other's mistakes, and if you see what misbehavior gets the others, it will deter you from doing the same thing."

He stood up and went around to the other side of the desk and opened a drawer, bringing out a pad of paper with a chart on it. He slid that drawer closed and then opened a drawer to the side, and pulled out a couple of items, pacing them one at a time on the desk. A wooden ruler, a leather strap, and a long, thin stick.

I gulped anxiously. Were those things going to be used for the punishments? Were foster parents allowed to do stuff like this to the kids?

Doug put his finger on the chart. "We'll start with the boys first. Hunter, you didn't do the dishes two nights in a row and had to be reminded-"

A thin blonde boy interrupted, "I can't help it, I'm forgetful, I have trouble remembering when the chores change each week! I asked Jean if I could just keep doing the same chores!" he whined.

Doug glared at him. "Are you mouthing off to me and being defiant?"

"N-no, sir," the boy dropped his eyes to the floor, going pale.

"Shut up and don't interrupt me again. You also got a report home from school that you didn't turn in three assignments this week."

"I—I forgot-"

"I said shut UP!" Doug snapped, picking up the strap. "Since you're so forgetful, I think this will help you to remember. Pants down and lean over the desk."

"But I can't help-"

"Boy, you just bought yourself another 5! Now get over here! You know the drill!"

I stared at the floor as Hunter shuffled forward and undid his jeans.

My stomach clenched up. Were we really going to have to be here to watch?

Hunter walked around to the side of the desk, pushing his jeans down, and then leaned over, laying his torso on the desk and putting his hands on the back of his head.

Doug walked around behind him, the buckle on the strap clanking. I lowered my head and held my breath, closing my eyes so I wouldn't have to see.

"Hey, you—Charlotte! Get your head up so you can watch and learn!" Doug yelled at me, and I raised my head and opened my eyes as he raised the strap.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

The baby monitor was blinking like crazy when Dean came out of the bathroom. He crossed the room and picked it up, adjusting the volume, and sighed. Liz had turned the volume down again in her sleep. The baby was fussing, not a full-blown cry yet.

Liz rolled over in bed and opened her eyes.

"I'll get her, I'm already up," Dean told her, and set the monitor back down in the dresser. He walked down the hall to the baby's room and opened the door. The smell in the room told him she needed a diaper change.

"Hey, sweetheart," he greeted the infant, picking her up out of the crib. He laid her down on the changing table and changed her into a clean diaper, and then lifted her to his shoulder as he carried her out to the kitchen.

There were already bottles of formula poured and waiting in the fridge, all he had to do was remove the cap and pop one into the microwave. He was able to do this one handed, then he shifted the baby on his arm and affixed a nipple onto the bottle, giving it a shake before giving it to the baby.

He sank down in a chair at the kitchen table and watched as she greedily drank down the formula. Liz had had issues with producing enough breast milk, and it had made her feel like a "not good enough" mother. She'd gotten depressed, and she was already tired from the hours of middle-of-the-night feedings, so her mood had gotten pretty low. Dean was trying to help out more, getting up in the middle of the night to feed the baby, taking over when he came home from work and bathing her in the evenings, so that Liz could have some time to herself. Liz had confessed that she felt like she didn't know what she was doing or how to care for this tiny infant who was completely dependant on them for everything. Dean felt the same way, but he figured that the love he felt for the baby would help him figure out what to do. One of his co-workers at the garage had told him that with babies, you just gave them what they wanted, feed them, change them, and hold them, and that's all they needed right now. And Dean was fine with that, he loved holding the baby and feeling her little fingers grip his shirt or his finger, and how she'd look into his eyes.

The baby reached one hand up and patted his t-shirt as she sucked on the bottle.

"Is that good stuff?" he asked her. All of a sudden, she pulled her head away and pushed the nipple out of her mouth. She looked up at him, and her eyes connected with his, and she gave him a big grin. She really seemed to focus on him, and it made a happy warmth spread through Dean's heart.

He smiled down at her and was aware that his eyes had gotten tears in them. "You're my girl, Charlotte," he said quietly, and she gurgled happily and then grabbed the bottle and stuck it back in her mouth.


	79. Chapter 79

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I know a lot of you are saying, "What the fudge, Wayward?" My muse took a hard left, and I had to follow...get on board the 'Last Train to WTF-ville' with me! Bear with me...see if you can figure out what's going on...remember that there are supernaturals that are aware of Charlie now, demons and possibly other types...hmm...
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: Physical abuse of child.
> 
> ***************

Dean forked the last bite of pie into his mouth and answered his cell phone, which had started to ring.

"Yeah, Bobby, what's up? How are things?" He felt relaxed and happy, he and Sam had just finished a successful hunt, and had kicked back at a motel for some R & R. They'd even managed to find a bed with "Magic Fingers". He'd had beer and pie, all he needed now was some 'Busty Asian Beauties' and his life would be complete.

"Hey, Dean, so listen...there's been some action online over the past couple of days, with regards to your name-"

"Whaat? My name's getting action, and I'm not? What the heck, man?" Dean quipped. Across the room, Sam shook his head and made a little scoffing sound.

"No, listen, ya idjit. Someone's checkin' up on you."

Dean got serious immediately and sat up. "What do you mean, Bobby?" his voice got lower.

"As far as I can tell it's from one account- all the inquiries come from the same IP address-"

"Whoa, English, Bobby!" Dean protested.

Bobby sighed. "Is Sam there?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Put me on speakerphone so that he can translate what I'm saying into idjit-speak."

Dean pressed the button on his phone and walked over to Sam.

"Bobby wants you to hear this," Dean told him.

Sam typed in the letters and numbers that Bobby read off. "Okay, I see it...yeah, it looks like a personal account that's linked to a local government site," Sam clicked on the keys and another window popped up.

" _ Department of Child and Family Services," Sam read off, "What the heck? Why would they be looking for Dean?"

"I don't know, but I wanted to give y'all a heads up. They've been trying to get into a bunch of different databases, looks like they're trying to find him."

"Okay, thanks Bobby. We'll look more into this," Sam said. He looked up at Dean, "I'm not going to be able to get into any government site, whether it's local or federal. You know who we need to call."

"Ash," Dean and Sam said at the same time.

Dean found Ash's number and dialed it, setting the phone next to Sam's laptop.

After it rang about 20 times, the phone picked up. There was music blaring in the background.

"Heyyyy, Dean-o!" Ash exclaimed, "How they hangin', man?"

"Hey, Ash, it's fine, I've got-"

"And your brother? How's he doin'?"

"I'm fine, Ash, listen-"Sam started.

Ash interrupted him. "Sam-I-am! How are you doin', dude?"

"I told you, I'm fine. We need your help-"

"Well I am at your service-"

"Ash, would you shut up for a second and let us talk!" Dean snapped.

"All right, all right, take a chill pill," Ash sounded a little hurt.

"Someone's been looking Dean up, trying to dig into online accounts about him. I've got the IP address but it's linked to a local government site. Can you get in there and find out who it is?"

Ash laughed. "Well of course, my man! Gimme the address, and I'll figure it out!"

An hour later, Dean's phone rang. "Okay, bros, hold on to your hats," Ash said excitedly, "Does the name...Susan Fredericks mean anything to you?"

Sam glanced at Dean. "Uhh...no," Dean took a swig of his beer.

"Oh," Ash sounded disappointed, "Well, she's a social worker. She's looking up info on you, because your name is linked to a case with a woman by the name of...Elizabeth Angela Stansfield. Know anyone by that name?"

"Elizabeth Angela Stansfield..." Dean stood up and paced, "Elizabeth—got any info on her?"

"Well it says that she lives in _ and she's been an accountant at The Stanhope Company for about the past 10 years...she just died of cancer."

"Oh man," Sam said, "Wait, _. Weren't we there for about 10 days, hunting a rugaru? And you got cozy with that woman who always ate at the diner, what was her name..." Sam snapped his fingers, "It was—oh my God, Dean, her name was Liz. Could that be-"

"Ohhh, Liz, right..." Dean nodded, "It was about...8 years ago?" he took another swig of beer, "Why in the hell would someone be looking for me, in relation to her, when she just died?"

"Maybe...she's rich and she left you some money in her will?" Ash questioned, "If so, do I get a payment for all my help?"

"Keep wishing, buddy," Dean retorted.

"Well wait a minute, you said this woman who's looking, she's... a social worker? Does it say anything about her cases?" Sam glanced at Dean.

They could hear Ash's keyboard clicking. "Umm...well, let's see here...okay, this Susan Fredericks, licensed social blahblah...says she is the court liason for children who have had parents or care-givers die and who've been left wards of the court, and she tries to find other relatives," Ash read off, "So that's who she is, she deals with kids whose parents died."

"And if this Elizabeth Stansfield just died..." Sam looked up at Dean, his eyes wide, "Oh my god, Dean, do you think she had a kid?"

Dean felt a shock. "No, she didn't, I would have known about it-" he said easily,"We were together almost every night and there wasn't a kid."

"No, Dean, I mean, you—we were there about 8 years ago, and I know you and she were intima-"

"Dude, TMI!" Ash hollered.

"Shut up, Ash," Sam and Dean said at the same time.

"Do you think that she could have, you know, gotten pregnant and had a kid? Your kid?" Sam looked up at Dean.

"Nah...nawww, she would have- uh, I mean-" Dean felt a little overwhelmed.

Sam turned to him. "Look, man, do the math, it's all right there in front of you. Eight years ago you had a dalliance with Elizabeth Stansfield, now a social worker is looking for you, one who deals with cases where kids have lost a parent and they're looking for family? Come on, Dean!"

"I, uh...no, that can't be...I mean...y'know-" Dean felt a little light-headed.

"Okay, Ash, we've got to go so that Dean can get ahold of himself. Can you do some more poking around and see if you can find out anything else?" Sam asked.

"Yep, will do."

Sam disconnected, and stood up, pushing Dean to sit down.

"Dude...you think I...I could have a kid?" Dean's chest was heaving.

"It's a very strong possibility," Sam said, "What are you going to do?"

"Well, I guess we look 'em up. See if they want to come with us. Could be kinda cool, me and a little man, ridin' around in Baby together-"

"You're making the assumption that it's a boy and that he'll like classic cars," Sam said flatly, "Let's just take one thing at a time, okay?"

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I laid on my stomach, trying to sleep. It hurt too much, my butt and backs of my thighs were throbbing. I'd gotten the strap for the first time tonight, and it wasn't fair. A couple of the other girls were sabotaging me, messing things up after I'd done my chores. I'd mop the kitchen floor and they'd spill soup all over it. I'd vacuum the living room rug and mud would get tracked in. Jean had gotten tired of my "complaining" and had taken away the mop and the vacuum cleaner, so now I had to clean everything with a rag and a bucket. My hands were chapped and dry from being in hot water all the time. A couple spots on my knuckles had cracked and bled. When I had asked for some lotion or ointment, I'd been told that they weren't made of money, and that it was part of my punishment for 'being so messy'.

I was determined to find a relative. I knew that all of the records for the foster kids were stored in the metal desk in the basement, the one that we had to lay across during Friday punishments. Every single kid hated that desk and wouldn't go near it. But I'd seen Doug looking through files and then shoving them in a lower drawer.

The house was quiet now, and I got up out of bed and crept downstairs. I shivered in the cold of the basement- the floor was just bare cement. The desk sat in the middle of the room, and it made me nervous to look at it. I didn't even want to go near it, let alone touch it, but I knew I had to.

I walked around to the side with the drawers and started to open them. One of the lower ones had files, with names of kids on them. I found mine, Charlotte Anne Stansfield, and pulled it out. I laid it on the desk and opened it, my hands shaking.

All of a sudden, Doug was there. "What the fuck is this?" he yelled, grabbing me and yanking me back. He slapped me across the face and then slammed me down on the desk, face down. I heard a drawer open, and then a second later heard a swish sound and a loud snap then felt a hot, thin line of pain on my butt. I screamed and tried to get away, but he grabbed my arm and twisted it painfully behind me.

"You aren't supposed to be out of bed, you aren't supposed to be down here, you aren't supposed to be looking through the desk! You're nothing more than a troublemaker!"

As he spoke, I heard the swish and crack again and again and felt the lines of hot pain springing up across my rear end. I struggled and tried to push up, but he yanked on my arm and I whimpered from the strain on my muscles.

"You're going to see what troublemakers get-" he hissed, and I felt a couple more lines of pain on my upper thighs. Tears were pouring down my face and my throat felt raw from screaming. I kicked my feet up, backwards, and my left heel connected with something soft. I heard him grunt, and he let me go, the cane clattering to the floor. I pushed up on the desk and turned, his face was red and he was hunched over. I was breathing hard, sobbing, and I wiped my eyes and then stood up.

"Oh no you don't," he grunted. He slapped me again, grabbed the back of my neck, and started to drag me down a hallway that was off to the side. There was a small door that he opened, and I could see it was a tiny room with a flat mattress on the floor and a metal bucket in the corner. He shoved me into the room and I tripped over the mattress and fell, hitting my head on the wall. As I heard the door lock, I sat up, and then rolled over. My bottom was throbbing and I could feel something trickling from some of the stinging skin on my thighs. My face was burning from where he'd slapped me and the muscles in my arm and shoulder were screaming from being twisted up my back. My chest was heaving with sobs, but I held on to what I had seen on one of the papers right before Doug had slammed me down on the desk. I had seen a name. Dean Winchester. Could that be my father? I held on to the hope that it was, and that I'd be able to find him. Dean Winchester. Please, please let that be the name of the man who is my father. Please, please let me find him. Dean Winchester.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dean adjusted his tie as he walked up the steps of the large yellow house. He glanced at Sam, feeling a nervous pang in his stomach. He didn't know why he felt nervous...he told himself he'd made peace with the fact that he had a kid, an 8 year-old daughter, and he was about to come face-to-face with her-

Sam reached out and rang the doorbell. After a moment, the heavy wooden storm door opened. A young girl stood there, holding a broom. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she had a smear of dirt across her cheek.

She opened the door. "Yes?" She glanced at them and then stared at the ground.

Sam took the lead. "Uhh, we're agents Plant and Page, from the FBI. We'd like to talk to your parents?"

"Foster," the girls' eyes were hooded. She didn't even look up at their badges that they were holding out.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked.

"Foster parents. Jean!" the girl turned away from the door, "Some guys're here to talk to you!"

An older woman came into the room, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She came out onto the porch as the sound of a vaccum cleaner started up behind her.

"Yes, gentlemen, what can I help you with?"

"Hi, yes, we're Agents Plant and Page, from the FBI, are you Jean White? We're looking for a...Charlotte Stansfield?" Sam looked at her.

"Yes, I am," Jean nodded, "Uhhh, why are you looking for her? I mean, what is this in connection with?" the woman looked back and forth at them.

"That's government business, ma'am," Dean said, "We were told by Ms. Susan Fredericks that...she... Charlotte... is residing here, and we need to speak with her."

"Well, she's not here," Jean's face was closed and un-emotional.

"When will she be back?" Sam asked after a long pause.

"She won't...she's actually...she got adopted last week, the family got the paperwork all signed and they took her, moved out of state."

Sam pulled out a small notebook and flipped it open. "Do you happen to know where?"

"No, families who adopt the kids from here don't usually leave a forwarding address. Once they're gone, they're gone. Better to just cut the cord and let them go."

"What was the name of the family?" Sam asked her.

"I really can't recall, you'd have to speak with Ms. Fredericks. Now I really have to go, I've got dinner on the stove and those kids can't be trusted to keep an eye on things," she said, glancing over her shoulder.

"All right, thank you. We'll be in touch if we have any more questions," Sam said.

As they walked over to the car, a garbage truck turned the corner and rumbled past. There was a man in a dirty coverall uniform hanging off the back of the truck. It slowed as it passed them.

"Hey, nice ride!" the man called. He pulled a candy bar out of his pocket and began to eat it.

"Excuse me?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"Your car...that's yours? She's a beaut!" the man grinned at Dean.

"Yeah, thanks," Dean said dismissively, getting into the car.

Once in the car, Sam turned to Dean. "This whole situation stinks on ice, man. That woman was a piece of work! She has no idea of the name of the family that adopted Charlotte, or where they went? She's got to be lying."

"And how come the social worker didn't mention that? Surely she wouldn've known about that, right? I mean come on," Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Now what? What do we do now?"

"Let's go get some breakfast, there was the Broward Diner in town," Sam said.

"Oh, hey, they had a sign for a Pig-in-a-Poke, too! I love that!" Dean started the car.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dean could hear the loud sound of the television as he walked down the hall towards the apartment. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, feeling a resistance. There were toys scattered all over the living room floor, as well as pots and pans and plastic utensils.

Charlotte ran up to him and threw her arms around his legs. "Dada!" she exclaimed happily. He leaned down and picked her up, holding her against his chest, and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said. Her face had dried food and grime on it, and she was clad only in a diaper that he could tell was full, from how puffy it was. The television was on, some children's cartoon with singing and dancing letters, but the volume was loud. It made his headache worse. It was the last friday of the month, and they did inventory at the garage, reading over computer print-outs with tiny lettering in the dim back room of the warehouse, and it always made his head hurt.

Dean walked over to the couch and picked up the remote, turning the sound down. He could hear Liz's voice in the kitchen, talking. That meant she was probably on the phone.

He walked over to the doorway- which was blocked off by a baby gate- and leaned in. Liz was standing at the stove, stirring a pot that had steam rising from it. Her head was tilted and she had a phone tucked between her cheek and shoulder.

"Hey," he called to her.

She glanced at him, and then turned back to the stove. She did this thing where when she talked on the phone she was completely focused on it and didn't—or couldn't- pay attention to anything else that was going on.

"Let's get you a dry diaper, huh?" Dean looked down at his daughter. He carried her back over to the sofa and laid her down, grabbing a diaper and the box of wipes from the little basket next to the couch.

Charlotte immediately tried to sit up.

"I need you to lay back, baby girl," he told her.

"Nooooo," she whined, trying to slide off of the couch.

"We need to change your diaper, come on," he said reasonably. He turned, looking around for something to distract her with, and reached down to pick a board book up from the floor. In the time it took for him to pick it up and turn back, she was already across the room.

"Charlotte, come back here!" he pointed at the couch. "Diaper change!"

"No!" she giggled, and reached down to pick up a plastic spatula and a metal pot. She began to bang the pot with the utensil. Dean's head throbbed.

"Hey, come over here, now," Dean called to her.

She frowned at him, and then stomped her foot. "No!" she said stubbornly.

Dean sighed and stood up, then walked over to her. He pulled the pot and spatula out of her hands, and dropped them, then picked her up under her arms and carried her over to the couch.

She looked up at him in surprise and then began to cry.

He laid her on her back and handed her the book. "Here, look at this while I change you," he said.

"NO!" she shouted, and threw the book at his face. It struck him in the nose, just at the right angle to really hurt and make tears of pain come to his eyes for a second. He turned his head and put his hand up to his nose, biting back the swear words that had risen automatically in his throat.

He pulled his hand away from his face and looked- no blood, thank God- and turned back. Charlotte was again off the couch and across the room.

Dean's temper flared, and he stood up. "Charlotte Anne. Get over here, NOW," he said sternly.

She turned her back on him, and that made him even angrier. He walked over to her and swung her up on his hip, turning her to face him. "You threw a book at me and hurt me, little girl. No throwing things at people," he scolded angrily.

She looked surprised again at his tone of voice, and then her lower lip began to tremble. Her eyes filled with tears, and he sighed angrily as he walked back to the couch. He laid her down on her back and sat down. She tried to sit up, and he pushed her back, and said, "NO, you stay right there," in a firm voice.

Big tears began to roll down the sides of her face and her mouth opened, and a second later she wailed.

He immediately felt terrible for making her cry.

"Come on, kiddo, let's get a clean diaper on you and we can put this all behind us, okay?" he asked.

"No diapey!" she wailed, trying to sit up again.

He pushed her back again as she resisted, and she began to howl. "Stay," he said emphatically.

"Dean, she's not a dog, for God's sake."

Dean looked up at Liz, who was standing at the door.

"Well I've been fighting with her about getting this diaper changed for about 10 minutes now and she keeps running off. She threw a book and hit me in the face!" Dean told her.

"She's two, what do you expect?" Liz stepped over the baby gate and walked over, holding something out to Charlotte.

"Here, honey, eat this," Liz said indulgently.

Charlotte stopped crying and her eyes lit up. "Cookie!" she grabbed at it, and started to eat.

"Isn't that going to spoil her appetite for dinner?" Dean asked.

Liz shrugged. "It's one cookie, and look, it's keeping her quiet."

"I thought we weren't going to keep distracting her with food," Dean said.

Liz rolled her eyes and sighed with annoyance. "No, you decided that. I don't see a problem with it."

Dean had finished putting a dry diaper on the baby by now, and he picked her up and set her on the floor.

He sighed, feeling his head throb. "Fine, whatever," he said, not wanting to argue at this particualr time. "Do I have time to take a shower before dinner?"

"Sure, go ahead," Liz said, turnng away and going back into the kitchen.

Dean lifted Charlotte out of the tub and put the hooded towel on her head, wrapping it around her body. He leaned over to pull the plug in the tub, and then stood up with a slight groan as his knees popped, and stripped off his wet shirt.

When he turned, he saw Charlotte push the towel off her shoulders as she ran out the door, giggling. He scooped the towel up and walked into the hallway, calling, "Naked toddler alert!"

Liz appeared at the other end, blocking the little girl, and made shooing motions at her. Charlotte let out a screech and turned to run back towards Dean. He leaned down and caught her easily as she tried to run by him. The baby loved to run around naked after her bath.

"Ah ah ah, no you don't," he teased, tickling her stomach. She wriggled in his arms and shrieked with laughter as he carried her into her room.

"No tick-uh! No tick-uh, Dada!" She reached up and tried to dig her fingers into his armpit, and as he shifted her in his arms he said, "Oh no, that's not fair, if you tickle me, I get to tickle you!"

He walked over to the dresser and grabbed a clean diaper and pajamas, then took them to her bed. He tickled her as he dressed her for bed, talking to her and teasing her.

"Okay, let's do hair," he said, picking up the little comb. She turned around obediently and plunked on her bottom in front of him. He combed through her wet hair and gently worked the knots out. "There we go, all done," he said, putting the comb on the bed.

Charlotte stood up and turned around, and put her hands on his cheeks.

"Tiss, Dada," she said, and she gave him a peck on the lips, complete with a loud, "MWAH!" sound. Then she threw her arms around his neck and snuggled into him.

He hugged her tightly."Thank you for the kiss," he said quietly, "I love you, Charlotte." He was glad that that was part of their nightly routine after bath time.

He let her go, and she climbed down off of the bed and scurried away to find some mischief. Dean stood up and took the damp towel and comb back to the bathroom, then went into the bedroom to put a clean t-shirt on. His shirt always got wet wrangling a naked toddler during bath-time. It was just another part of the routine.

He walked into Charlotte's bedroom, where Liz was tucking her into her little toddler bed. Charlotte was drinking a bottle of milk.

"Good night, sweetie," Liz leaned down and kissed Charlotte.

"Shouldn't we be brushing her teeth after she has a bottle?" Dean asked.

"She's already in bed, I don't want to get her out again," Liz stood up.

Dean sat down next to Charlotte, and she sat up slightly. He put his arms around her and smelled her clean-baby smell and stroked her still-damp hair back from her face.

"Good night, baby girl," he kissed her forehead. He let go and laid her back down, and she rolled onto her side and kept drinking.

He followed Liz out to the living room and she sat down. Liz had a glass of wine and a bag of potato chips, and she grabbed the remote.

"Want to watch a movie?" she asked.

"Sure," Dean replied, going into the kitchen for a beer.

By the time he was halfway through the beer, Charlotte had appeared at the end of the hallway.

"What are you doing up, kiddo?" he asked, although this was a nightly occurance with her.

Her eyes lit up as she looked over at her mother, and she hurried over and climbed up onto the couch between them. "Tips, Mama! Tips!" she pointed at the bag of potato chips, and Liz handed her one.

"Liz..." Dean said with disbelief, as Charlotte crunched the chip with obvious relish.

"What? It's just one chip," Liz said defensively.

"Little girl, you need to go to bed," Dean said, and Charlotte ignored him, turning to her mother.

"Muh! Muh tip, Mama!"

"Come on, back to bed," Dean set his beer on the side table and took Charlotte's arm. She tried to pull away from him, and threw herself backwards. "No! No bed! Mamaaaaa!" she called, as Dean picked her up and carried her down the hallway.

"It's time for you to be in bed," he said sternly.

He had memories of he and his brother getting out of bed, or of staying up and goofing around, and their father putting a stop to that with swats to their butts. Sure, they'd been older, but his father had always been firm and strict when it came to the rules. He was shocked at how lax Liz was turning out to be. Yes, the baby was only two, but she was old enough to start learning how to behave, to listen and do what she was told. She wan't really a baby anymore although they both called her that. Liz seemed to use "She's only two," and "But she's a baby" as an excuse whenever she didn't want to be bothered with having to enforce anything. Then Dean had to be the heavy, and get stern, and then Charlotte would cry. It made him feel bad, but there were times when he could tell that his scolding had gotten through to her, and it made him feel good to know that she could recognize limits. There were times that Charlotte did obey Dean. She's wasn't "just a baby" like Liz said.

Tonight, however, he was headachy, and his patience was wearing thin. He laid Charlotte in bed, and then walked back out to the living room. Liz had started some comedy-romance that he watched half-heartedly.

Charlotte had come out of her room twice more, and Dean had carried her back, and each time her fussing had gotten worse. She was getting tired, and she was fighting sleep, which in turn made her grumpy. She knew that Liz would more often than not let her stay up. There were plenty of nights that Dean had come home late, to find Liz and the baby asleep on the couch with the t.v. going. Liz didn't like it when Charlotte cried, and Charlotte didn't listen to anything Liz told her to do.

Instead of relaxing him, the beer had made Dean's headache get worse. He carried his fussing toddler back to her room yet again, feeling irritation welling up.

"Charlotte. Stay. In. Bed," he said sternly, pulling the covers up.

She sat up and threw the covers off of her. "NO!" she shouted, glaring up at him.

He sat down on the bed and started to pull the blankets up again. "Lay down, kiddo-" he started to say, and she began to kick her feet. Her little foot connected with his cheekbone, so hard that he saw stars for a moment.

"OUCH!" he yelled, "Son of a bi-" he managed to stop himself just in time, and shook his head. When his vision had cleared, he saw she was almost out the door. Anger surged up in him, and he stood up and stormed across the room to her, grabbing her and lifting her up to hold her against his chest.

"I told you to stay in bed!" he snapped in a harsh voice, and he smacked her butt lightly.

She stared at him, a shocked look on her face, but he didn't know if it was from his tone of voice or the fact that he'd swatted her. He knew it hadn't hurt her, she had a diaper on, so there was a layer of padding covering her butt, and it was just a pat.

She wailed and then burst into tears, burying her face in his neck. He sighed again, angry at himself that he'd lost his temper with her, and resolved to be more patient. He put his arms around her and began to pace the floor, talking to her in a quiet, soothing voice, and then humming a little after she'd calmed down. He hummed the tune that his father had hummed to him when he was small, it ws some old song from the 1940s, his father had told him.

Charlotte's sobs quieted until her chest just hitched every so often. He looked down at her, listening to her even, heavy breathing, and then gently laid her in bed and pulled the covers up. Her hand had been fisted in his flannel and he had to pry it open and remove his shirt from her little hand.

He was exhausted now. He walked to the bathroom, swallowed some ibuprofen, then went out to the living room.

Liz was slumped on the end of the couch, asleep, with the empty wine bottle and chip bag on the floor next to her feet. Dean sighed and picked them up, taking them out to the kitchen. He was too tired to clean up the rest of the living room tonight, so he'd have to get it in the morning. Or course, it wouldn't really matter, since the baby would have everything back out in a matter of minutes.

Dean flicked the t.v. off and walked to the bedroom, laying down and falling asleep quickly.


	80. Chapter 80

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Glad you're still with me! All will be revealed...  
> **********

Dean Winchester was a hunter. He drove a classic muscle car that he had rebuilt from the ground up, he listened to classic rock, he had a trunk full of weapons and could shoot a bow and arrow just as well as he could fire a rifle. He had salted and burned hundreds of bones, sent demons back to hell, and ganked vampires, wendigos, and rugarus. He was one tough bastard, and his reputation preceded him.

Today, however, he was at "The Building Blocks Learning Center" to pick up his daughter. He'd had a fling 4 years ago- one of many that year- that had resulted in pregnancy. Liz had called him when she was in the middle of the second trimester. He'd started sending her money when he could, and tried to make it out to see her a couple of times. He'd managed to make it to the last ultrasound appointment before she gave birth, and the sight of that little baby moving her arms and legs on the black and white screen filled him with a feeling he'd never felt before.

He'd missed the baby's birth. He'd been deep in the mountains of Colorado hunting a pack of werewolves. In the end Sam and he had had to call in other hunters for help so that they could all work together to take the pack down. He'd had no cell phone reception and been so intent on tracking the creatures that he hadn't thought about Liz. She wasn't due for another three weeks anyhow.

When he came down off the mountain, his phone had buzzed for a solid 10 minutes with all the text notifications and voice messages she'd left.

His heart had opened up the first time he'd held his baby daughter, and he'd sworn to give her whatever she wanted and do whatever it took to give her a good life. One that didn't involve hunting supernatural creatures. He'd insisted that he and Sam hang around the area where Liz lived for several months, only taking hunts that would take them a day or so away. When the baby was a few months old he began taking her on weekends, and that continued for a long while. He and Sam had gotten involved in some business that had taken them to the West Coast for a couple of months, but Dean always came back to see his daughter. She knew he was her Daddy and he spent as much time with her as he could.

As time went on, though, it seemed like the hunts lasted longer, or ended up being further away, and so for the past year and a half, there had been weeks go by that Dean hadn't seen his daughter. He and Liz had worked it out that whenever he came into town he'd take Charlotte for up to a week and spend time with her, but now it was a little awkward at first. Charlotte would be shy and a little reticent for a while, and then she'd act out so that he'd have to set limits with her, and then everything would be okay. Liz was a very permissive parent, she let Charlotte basically run things. She barely had any rules, and she didn't enforce the ones that she made. Dean wasn't like that- he'd never sat down and thought about what kind of parent he'd be, but he found himself falling back on how his father had treated them, and his expectations. You did what Dad said, because he made rules and gave orders to keep you safe. Things that had annoyed him when he was younger now made sense to him. Being on a strict sleep schedule was one of them-when you're hunting you can't be tired and out of sorts, you've got to pay attention to everything. A kid needs to go to bed at the same time every night because if they stay up all hours, they end up cranky the next day.

Dean stood inside the doorway of the preschool classroom and watched as his daughter got her backpack and jacket out of her cubby. She approached him slowly and looked up at him. "Hi, Daddy," she said shyly. It had been almost a month since he had seen her.

"Hi, kiddo," he reached out to ruffle her hair. He took her hand, and turned to leave the room. Several kids called out, "Bye, Charlotte!" as they left.

An older woman with short graying hair stopped him at the end of the hall. "Hello, Mr. Winchester, I'm Mrs. Madison, the director. I wanted to make you aware that Charlotte's tuition...hasn't been paid in almost 3 months."

"Oh," Dean said with surprise, "I'm sorry, I send money to her mother-"

"Yes, she mentioned that- I just wondered if you could talk to her, we've sent a few notices home with Charlotte-"

Dean nodded and took the envelope she was holding out. "Yes, I will, and I'll get some money to you when I bring Charlotte back."

"Thank you. Bye, Charlotte, have fun with your father."

"Bye Mrs. Madison," Charlotte said as they walked out.

Dean felt annoyance rise up in his chest, at Liz. She wasn't responsible with money either, he gave her cash for Charlotte, and bought her things all the time, he'd paid for a toddler bed a couple of years ago and a new dresser, and he'd also started to pay for the preschool that Liz had insisted that their daughter go to. Dean now had a duffle bag full of clothes and toys in his trunk, amidst all the weapons and tools, because no matter how much clothing he bought for Charlotte, when Liz would pack her a bag it was haphazard and often full of dirty or too-small clothes. Dean got tired of having to run out after he'd picked Charlotte up and buy her new things, so he'd gotten a bunch of supplies.

He buckled Charlotte into her car seat and then got in and turned to her. "So how has school been going?"

She had lowered her head, and she glanced up at him. "It's okay," she said, still shy.

"What have you been doing? Working on your writing?"

"Uh, yeah...I c'n wite my name now!" she said proudly.

"That's great!" Dean beamed at her, "I can't wait to see it," he turned and started the car, pulling into traffic to drive to their hotel.

When they pulled into the parking lot, she asked, "Is Unca Sammy here?"

Dean pushed down the pang of jealousy that he felt. "He'll be coming in tonight," he told her.

As he opened the back door, he saw that she had already unbuckled herself and was standing in the back of the car.

"Charlotte, what did I tell you before? You are not supposed to unbuckle yourself," he reminded her sternly.

"But why, Daddy? I a big giwl, I can do it my-sef!"

"Because, it's not safe, and because I told you not to," He lifted her onto the ground. "Stay right there," he said, going around to the trunk. He got out a couple of duffles, and they walked to the room.

He set the bags on the dresser, and then opened the envelope that the director had given him, to see how much money was owed. Charlotte wandered over to the t.v. and found the remote, turning it on and climbing onto the sofa.

There was a knock on the door, and Dean hurried over, peering out of the peephole. Sam stood on the other side of the door.

"You're early," Dean said as he let Sam into the room.

"Yeah, traffic was really light," Sam said, slinging his duffle onto the floor.

"Unca Sammy!" Charlotte crowed, jumping off the sofa and running over to him. Sam crouched down and opened his arms, and the little girl jumped into them and threw her arms around him.

"Hi, Charlotte!" Sam said happily, hugging her.

She pulled back and looked at him. "You got anyfing fow me?"

"Hmm...I don't know..." Sam grinned at her so that his dimples showed, "I guess you'll have to check my pockets." This was something he did every time Dean picked Charlotte up, he always had a little present for her hidden on one of his pockets.

She reached into his right jacket pocket and pulled something out. It was a tiny purple purse in the shape of a butterfly, and she gasped.

"Open it," Sam told her.

She unzipped it, and pulled out a small packet of tiny plastic barrettes. "Ooh, I wove dem, Unca Sam! Fank you!" she exclaimed, hugging him.

Sam laughed and hugged her again, and then let her go and stood up.

She held the package up. "Put some in, wite now! Pwease?"

"Okay," Sam walked over to the table and sat down in a chair. She handed the package to him and turned, standing in front of him.

"Which ones do you want?" Sam asked.

"Ummm...da pink bows!"

Sam ran his fingers through her hair and pinned her hair back on the sides of her head with the barrettes.

"Fank you!" Charlotte said again, beaming, "Wook, Daddy! Wook at my hair!"

"You look very pretty," Dean said to her. He felt jealous again, Sam somehow had this easygoing way with Charlotte, and she adored him. Not that she didn't like Dean, but he was 'Daddy'' which meant that he sometimes had to be 'the heavy' and enforce rules and punish her when she did something wrong, which she hated. She wasn't used to rules or boundaries and it was always a fight at first to get her used to the way Dean did things. He wondered what she was going to do to push boundaries this time, and dreaded it, because it would usually mean scolding and tears.

Charlotte waited until later to misbehave. She opened up while they ate dinner at the diner, telling them about things she had done at school, and counted to twenty for them, and sang the ABC song a couple times. They enjoyed listening to her chatter about everything.

They walked into the motel room, and Charlotte pulled out the mint that the waitress had brought with the check. "Can I has it now, Daddy?" she asked coyly.

"No, Charlotte, what did I say?" Dean asked, "Give it to me, and you can have it tomorrow," he held his hand out.

She curled her hand around the candy. "But I want it NOW!"

"No, sweetheart, you already had dessert, and you don't need candy right before bed."

"I not gonna go to bed wite now!" Charlotte glared up at him.

Dean tried to make his voice patient. "I didn't say you were going to bed now, but it will be time to start getting ready soon."

"No! Not gonna go bed, I wanna eat my candy!" She ran across the room, over to the bed farthest away from them, and scooted into the area between the wall and the bed.

He walked over to her. "Don't you eat that candy," he said in a warning tone.

Sam followed Dean over, and looked at the little girl. "C'mon, kiddo, listen to your Dad," he said easily.

"But Unca Sammy, I wike candy!"

"I know you do, but it's late, and you don't need candy right now. You need a healthy snack at bedtime."

"Come out of there right now, and give me the candy," Dean said firmly.

Charlotte set her jaw stubbornly and he knew he'd said the wrong thing. She responded to Sam better because he always used that easy tone with her, but too often he found John's Winchester's stern bark coming out of his mouth.

Charlotte started to unwrap the candy, and Dean vaulted over the bed, and pulled it out of her hand.

"No, Daddy, gimme it!" she wailed, bursting into tears.

"I told you no, young lady," Dean said sternly. He picked her up, carried her over to the table and set her in a chair, then pushed it over to the wall, facing the corner.

"Time out," he said decisively. He glanced at his watch to note the time.

"Nooooo!" she howled, as tears poured down her face. After a moment, she turned around and glared at him, then started to slide off the chair.

"Don't you dare," his voice was deeper, which made her pause. She kept staring at him, and slowly eased her body off so that she was standing next to the chair.

He reached down and picked her up, plunking her back on the chair, and she wailed again.

"Sit down," he said firmly.

She kicked the rungs of the chair, and then said, "No!" in a snotty tone of voice, and slid off the chair again.

"Charlotte-" he said warningly. She glanced at him and started to walk away. He picked her up and set her in the chair again, and she turned around and climbed off of it right away.

"All right, that's it," Dean said, picking her up. He swatted her bottom once, and she began to cry harder. She buried her face in his flannel, and he felt awful that she was crying because of him.

"You need to do what I tell you," he said, still firm.

"Daddy I sowwy!" she wailed.

He hugged her to his chest. "All right, it's okay." he walked over to the sofa and sat down, setting her on his lap. She sniffled and put her arms around him, leaning her head on his chest.

"You listen to me from now on, huh?" he looked down at her.

"Yes, Daddy," she agreed.

Sam sat down next to him, holding a pink and purple backpack. "Hey, Charlotte, let's look through here and you can pick some books for us to read at bedtime, okay?"

She sniffled and sat up, looking at Sam. "'Kay," she said, but she didn't move off of Dean's lap, which he was glad about. She went through the backpack with Sam, and they decided on three books to read. This was part of the routine that they always did with her, and all three of them enjoyed it.

Charlotte behaved for the rest of the evening, sitting with them while they watched t.v., and then she got ready for bed when Dean told her to. She sat between them on the bed, and Dean read her one book and Sam read her two, and then they both hugged her and kissed her. Dean saw her watching them as they sat on the sofa with bottles of beer, watching a movie, but she didn't make any moves to get out of bed.

Dean stared down at his daughter, who was laying down on the ground, kicking and screaming. She'd had tantrums before, but never one like this. They had spent the day at the zoo, and all day it had been, "Mommy don't make me hold hands," "Mommy wets me wun ahead," "Mommy say I can eat whatever I want," and "Mommy buys me what I want." Charlotte had almost had a tantrum when Sam tried to insist that she get apple slices instead of french fries at lunch, and he had managed to derail the fussing by convincing her to eat the cucumber slices from his salad. Dean was tired of telling Charlotte, "Well, I do things differently than your Mom." He knew she was pushing against the boundaries to see what he would do, but he wished she wouldn't keep doing it.

Their last stop was the playground so that Charlotte could run around before the long car ride back to the hotel. Dean had told her, "It's time to go now," and that had caused her to throw a massive tantrum.

He leaned down and extended his hand to her. "Come on, kiddo, get up. Let's leave and we can stop for dinner on the way home."

"No!" she slapped at his hand, and rolled away, crossing her arms.

"Charlotte, let's go," he said firmly.

"No, I not wanna go! I wanna stay an' go back to see da effants!" Charlotte loved elephants and had insisted that they stay at the elephant habitat for a long time. Sam had bought her a small stuffed elephant as well, and she had carried it tucked under her arm the whole rest of the time. Now, it sat a few feet away from her.

Dean walked over and picked it up, then held it out to her. "Come on, take your elephant and let's leave. We can talk about what you want to name him."

Charlotte grabbed the stuffed toy from him, and then threw it at him as hard as she could. It bounced off his knee and rolled away. "No! I not goin'! I gonna stay hewe, an' you can't make me go!" she huffed and set her jaw, a sign that she was angry.

"Okay then," Dean picked up the elephant and handed it to Sam. "Charlotte doesn't want this, I guess you'd better return it to the store, Sam."

"Nooo! Gimme!" She stood up and ran over to Dean, and then pummeled his legs with her small fists.

He squatted down and grabbed her wrists. "You need to calm down," he told her seriously, "That's enough, now. We're leaving."

"Nooo!" she threw her body backwards, and collided with a small toddler who was walking behind her at just that moment. The younger child fell onto her back with a startled whoop, and then she began to cry loudly.

A woman hurried up, leaning down and picking the crying baby. She gave Dean a dirty look. "You need to get control over your kid, mister," she snapped.

"I'm very sorry, ma'am," Dean said, "Charlotte, say you're sorry for knocking the little girl down."

"No!" Charlotte yelled.

"All right-" Dean picked her up. "C'mon, Sam, let's go."

As they walked to the parking lot, Dean tried to ignore the stares of the other people at the zoo. Charlotte continued to scream and twist in his arms, and he felt his face burning with embarrassment. He knew the little girl was tired and that's what a lot of this was, so he was trying to cut her some slack.

Trying to buckle her into her carseat was like trying to dress an octopus. She kicked and struggled, and he had to give her a shake and scold her, which caused more crying. Finally they were all buckled and he was driving out of the lot. He glanced back at her in the rear-view mirror, "Hey, where would you like to go for—young lady, what are you doing?" he snapped. She had unbuckled herself and had turned around in the car seat, staring out the back window.

"Charlotte, you have about 5 seconds to sit your butt back in your seat and buckle up." he said threateningly.

He watched her, and she glanced over her shoulder at him and then returned to looking out the back.

"Charlotte, that's not safe," Sam said to her.

Dean pulled the car over into a parking space and turned to her. "Do I need to start counting?" he asked her, "If I get to five and you're not buckled, you will be getting a spanking," he warned. He counted, growing more and more frustrated, and when he got to five, he got out of the car and walked around to the back. He got in and took her arm, turning her to face him. "What did I tell you, young lady?" he asked.

"Mommy wets me sit inna back seat on my own!" she told him.

"Well, things are different with me, and we've already talked about this. Getting out of your car seat is dangerous, and I will not allow it. Come here," and he turned her over his lap. Dean was willing to let some things slide, but not doing something potentially dangerous. To him, something like this needed a serious, immediate consequence. She burst into tears the first time he brought his hand down on her bottom. He gave her rear end a few sharp swats, and then picked her up and started to hug her, but she pushed him away.

"Nooo! I not wike you anymore, you a mean Daddy!" she sobbed.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Dean said.

"Me on'y wike Unca Sammy! Not you!" She turned away from him.

"All right, fine. Get in your seat," he said. She climbed into her carseat, and he buckled her in. By the time they turned on to the highway 15 minutes later, she was asleep, with her head back and her mouth open slightly.

Sam sighed and looked over at him. "Man, that was rough," he shook his head.

"She's tired, we had a big day," Dean said, "and she's still pushing me a little."

"I know, I just wish there was some other way she could deal with that besides misbehaving like she does," Sam looked at Dean like he was considering something.

"What?" Dean asked.

"You know, you do a great job being patient with her. Dad would've swatted our asses the second we threw ourselves down on the ground."

Dean shrugged. "I feel like I let things go on for too long most of the time."

"No, you deal with things pretty well. I know you feel like you're too stern, but I think you only do that when she needs it."

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean said warmly.

Charlotte woke up when Dean got her out of her seat. She put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her inside their motel room. "I sowwy I was bad, Daddy," she murmured.

"It's all right, sweetheart, I know you were tired," he said, kissing her forehead, "We're going to order pizza tonight, all right?"

" 'kay," she agreed, "C'n I have my effant?"

He set her down, and Sam walked over to her and handed her the stuffed toy.

"Fank you, Unca Sam," she said solemnly. She hugged him, and then walked over to Dean and tugged on his leg. He squatted down and looked at her. "What's up?"

"I wanned to say, I do wike you, Daddy. Bof you an' Unca Sam."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Charlotte," Dean said, "I love you, sweetheart."

She leaned forward and hugged him. "I wove you too, Daddy," she buried her face in his neck, and his heart swelled with love.

Sam was in the restroom when the delivery man knocked on the door, so Dean had to answer it, holding Charlotte on his hip. The delivery man was chewing on a candy bar when the door swung open, and he grinned at them. "Aren't you a cute little thing?" he said to Charlotte, and she buried her face in Dean's neck, overcome with shyness.

"She's got your eyes, dude," the man said to Dean, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Thanks, here, keep the change," Dean pulled out his wallet and removed a couple of bills, handing them to the delivery man.

"Charlotte, I have to put you down so I can take the pizza," he said, and he put her down. He took the pizza boxes and stepped back.

"Bye! Have a good night!" the delivery man grinned at them as Dean closed the door.

"That was...odd..." Sam commented as Dean carried the pizza over to the table.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Dean parked the car at the curb and turned the engine off. He turned around to look in the back seat. "Ready to go see your mom? Hey, what's wrong?" he asked with concern as he saw his daughter. She was sitting with her head lowered, and he could see tears dripping off her cheeks.

She looked at up him. "Wanna stay wif you, Daddy," she said, and her voice broke.

"Aww, well..." Dean tried to figure out what to say. Charlotte usually did get a little sad when he dropped her off with her mother. He had had her for the longest time, this time around, 10 days. He'd been ready to take her back after a week, but Liz had called and asked him to keep Charlotte for a couple more days. Dean felt closer to his daughter than he ever had, he had really enjoyed spending time with her.

"Can I wive wif you an' Unca Sammy?" Charlotte's voice was plaintive.

"No, we...we move around a lot, and...the things we do...it would be too hard to have a little girl along with us," Dean said apologetically.

"But, Daddy, I'll miss you!" Charlotte wailed, and then she burst into loud sobs.

Dean got out of the car and pulled her out of the car seat, holding her and hugging her tightly. He rubbed her back and shushed her until she was calm.

"Ready?" he asked, and she nodded. He picked her duffle up out of the back seat and they walked up to the apartment building.

Dean noticed that the apartment smelled funny, like it hadn't been cleaned in a while. There were several large bags of trash by the kitchen door.

"I've not been feeling well," Liz told him, taking a sip of wine, "Hey, sweetie!" she said brightly to Charlotte. "Go and see what I got for you!"

This was Liz's technique, to distract the little girl with presents so that she didn't have to deal with Charlotte getting upset.

Charlotte held tightly to Dean's jacket. "Wanna stay wif Daddy."

"Oh, okay...so how was it?" Liz asked.

"It was fine. We went to the zoo, and the aquarium, and went bowling and played min-golf," Dean told her.

"Must be nice to just do fun stuff with her all the time and not have to really be a parent," Liz said in a snarky tone.

Dean felt himself getting defensive. "I was a parent too, Liz, I'm not all buddy-buddy with her. I have to remind her of the rules and boundaries every time I get her."

"She has rules here!" Liz snapped.

Dean scoffed. "Yeah, that you don't-" he stopped, and exhaled, "I'm not going to get into that with you. Charlotte, why don't you go check your room, I've got to talk to your mom for a minute," he set the little girl down, and after she looked at him for a long moment, she left the room.

Dean pulled the bill from the preschool out of his pocket. "I was stopped on the way out of school when I picked Charlotte up, they said her tuition hadn't been paid in almost three months...where's the money going?" Dean folded his arms and looked at Liz.

She shifted and stared at the floor. "Money's been tight, I needed it...for other things!"

"Dammit, Liz, the money I give you is supposed to be for Charlotte and her school and all, not for you to spend however you want!" Dean exploded.

"I'm not using it for whatever I want, it's for bills!" Liz glared at him.

"Well, if you're having issues with money, that's one thing, but you shouldn't be using the money I give you for our daughter for other things! That's lying, and I don't appreciate it! From now on, I'll pay the tuition directly to the school," he told her firmly.

She folded her arms. "Fine...be that way," she turned and walked into the kitchen, pouring herself more wine, "You can leave now."

Dean walked to the end of the hall. "Charlotte, I have to go," he called.

The little girl had been standing right inside the doorway of her room, and Dean was certain that she'd listened to them arguing. Charlotte came barreling up the hallway, her face tight with worry, and threw herself at him. "Daddy don't goooo!" she wailed, as he picked her up. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed.

He looked at Liz, who was downing another glass of wine, and wondered if maybe he should talk to Sam about trying to take Charlotte with them.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I heard knocking on the door and hurried over to look into the peephole. There was a family standing at the door of the Jones's apartment, two doors down and across the hall, all of them with their arms full of wrapped boxes and gift bags. I watched as the door opened and Mrs. Jones let them in. "Merry Christmas!" I heard her say happily.

I got down off the stool and kicked it to the side, feeling my throat tighten. I wanted to burst out crying. We had nothing this year, not even a tree. Aunt Janice had left to go visit relatives across the country. Mommy had had another treatment, and she wasn't doing well again. She had been too tired to go out and do things like shop for a tree or decorate, or anything like that, and now, she was "down for the count", like she said.

"This treatment's kicking my ass, Lottie, and I'm gonna be down for the count for a while longer," she'd say, trying to smile at me.

I heard her coughing in the other room, and hurried in, hoping she wasn't going to start throwing up again.

"Hey, sweetie," she said, after she'd stopped coughing. Her lips were very dry and cracked. "Do we have any ginger ale?" She propped herself up on her elbow, and I noticed that there were several clumps of hair on her pillow. She looked at my face, and then turned her head.

"Yeah, it's been happening more often," she said with a little laugh, "I'm wondering if I should just shave it all now."

I swallowed. "I—I dunno, Mommy. We're out of ginger ale, want me to go get some?"

She laid back down. "Yeah, my stomach- it's awful, so much pressure, and the nausea just comes in waves-"

"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit." I walked to the kitchen and got the canister out that held cash for things like this. I took some bills and shoved them in my coat pocket, then locked the door and went down to the mini-mart that was next to our apartment building.

There was a man sweeping the leaves off the sidewalk, wearing a one-piece uniform. He was whistling a Christmas carol and eating a candy bar. "Hey kid, Merry Christmas!" he called to me. I didn't respond, just hurried over to the store.

The door was locked and the lights were off, and with a shock I remembered that it was Christmas day. I could see a figure walking around in the store, and then Mr. Elliott walked over and unlocked the door.

"Charlie, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Uh, sorry, Mr. Elliott, I just—my mom needs some ginger ale."

"That's all right, come in," he opened the door wider for me, and then locked it after I came in.

"How's she doing?" he asked as I walked over to the refrigerated cases against the wall.

"Um, she's, she had another treatment so she's real sick right now," I told him.

"Sorry to hear that. Here, take this," he pulled a 6-pack of cans of ginger ale off of the shelf. "Does she need anything else? Crackers maybe?"

"Uhh, no, she can't take any food in her stomach right now."

"Let me bag this for you, it's kinda heavy," Mr. Elliott walked around behind the counter. I got out the money and held it out.

He waved his hand. "Put that away, it's Christmas."

"But-"

"And here-" he picked up a container of chocolates that was shaped like a Christmas tree and put it in the bag.

"My mom can't eat chocolate right now, the smell makes her sick," I said.

"Oh, they're for you, kiddo. Eat them in the kitchen after she goes to sleep or something," he winked at me.

"Thanks, Mr. Elliott," I said gratefully.

He walked me over to the door. "Listen, me and Margaret are going to be at church today and out visiting, but if you ever need anything, any help, if your mom...you know. Go down the alley and ring the bell, it might take us a couple minutes, but we'll come down for ya," He and his wife lived in an apartment over top of the store.

"Okay, thanks."

He unlocked the door and let me out. "Merry Christmas, Charlie."

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Elliott."

I watched as Mom drank the ginger ale down fast. "Mommy, go slow," I said, "you don't want to get sick."

She put the glass down, and then heaved. I grabbed the trash can next to the bed and held it up for her. After she was done throwing up, she wiped her mouth, and then started to cry.

"Mommy, what's wrong, are you hurting?" I asked.

"No, I just can't...this sucks...it's not getting better...what if it doesn't get better?" she looked at me sorrowfully, "I've.. started... trying to find... your father..."

"My- father? Why?" I felt surprised. In all my life she'd never mentioned him before, just said that he was a man she'd been with for a short while.

"Because, Lottie, if I...if I die...you need to have someone take care of you."

"Mommy, don't," I got scared, "don't talk about that!"

"Lottie, it needs to be talked about. The doctors said that the scans don't look good, there's no change, so we need to start making plans-"

"NO!" I shouted, running out of the room. I ran over to where the box of chocolates was, on the table, and I grabbed it up, forgetting that I'd opened the top. I hurled it across the room, and chocolates scattered as the box fell. I threw myself down on the sofa and burst into tears.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I was the only one in the waiting room. The t.v. on the wall blared a football game, but I didn't hear anything. I felt numb. All the machines in Mommy's room had started to make noises and flash, and then a bunch of nurses had come rushing in, and finally someone had noticed me in the corner, and shooed me out of the room.

I had stood there in the doorway watching as they worked, but I knew what that sound meant- the steady beep and the straight flat line on the monitor. I'd seen it on too many t.v. shows, it meant that the heart had stopped. That the person was dead.

A doctor and nurse hurried in, bumping my shoulder, and the doctor gave me a dirty look. He said something to a nurse, and she walked over and shut the door, right in my face. Last thing I head was, "All right, let's get out the paddles, people."

I heard the squeaking of wheels and a janitor came in pushing a mop bucket. He began to mop the floor, whistling every once in a while.

"Hey kid, you look like you could use a pick-me-up," he said, "want some candy?"

"Uh, I don't have any money," I said.

"That's okay," he walked over to the machines and banged twice on the side, and then once on the glass. A candy bar fell out, and he reached in and took it out.

"Mmm, I love these," he said, "Ya want something? Snickers? Mounds? Gummy Bears?" He unwrapped the candy bar and began to eat it.

"I'm—not s'posed to talk to strangers an' all," I hunched down in my coat, wishing he would leave me alone.

"Aww, c'mon kid, but it's free candy!" He banged on the machine again and several bars fell at the same time. He reached in, and then walked over to me, holding them like they were a deck of cards all fanned out.

"Go ahead, take one. Take 'em all, kid, I like you. You've got sass and moxie."

I looked up at him. He seemed...familiar.

"How'd you do that?" I started to feel scared, "Who are you?"

"Just...someone who enjoys watching people," he grinned, "And I've been watching you-"

I heard a noise down the hall, and we both turned. A door at the far end had opened, and a tall man in a brown leather jacket was coming up the hall. He had short light brown hair and stubble on his chin.

He had a determined look on his face, but when he saw me, his face changed. He ran towards us. "Charlie!" he said with relief, "Oh my God, baby, there you are!"

I felt even more scared. "Wh—who are you?" I squeaked, getting up and walking over to the corner of the room.

"All right, let her go," he said to the janitor, in a hard voice.

The janitor put his hands up. "I'm not holding her here, we are just talkin'."

The tall man looked over at me with concern. "You okay, Charlie? Did he—did he hurt you or anything?" his voice was urgent.

"I'm o-okay...wh-who are you?" I asked again.

He stared at me, and then at the janitor. "What the hell kind of game are you playing?" the man barked, and the stern-ness in his voice made me shrink down. "Have you been messing with her memories this whole time? What the hell is the point of all this?"

The janitor laughed and shrugged. "There is no point...I wanted to give you a little taste of what life was like when she was little, because you've always wondered about that. Then, I wanted to teach all of you a lesson, to appreciate what you have with each other, in the here and now, and not keep looking into the past, yada, yada, yada...but watching all the angst that you people go through was just too...much...fun..."

I felt a surge of anger. "My Mommy just—she just died! Of cancer! You think that's fun?" I yelled, clenching my fists and stepping towards the janitor.

"Oh, Charlie, I'm so sorry-" said the tall man.

The janitor snickered. "Oh, this kid, she's got a lot of moxie. She's a spunky little thing, you better hold on to this one. She's gonna give you a run for your money when she gets older!" he turned and winked at me.

The tall man glared at the janitor. "How are you able to do all this? What the hell are you?"

The janitor laughed again and spread his arms. "I can't believe you haven't figured it out, Dean-o. But then, I guess you've been pretty off-kilter with me zapping you back and forth through the years. And you probably would've figured it out with your brother here, he's the brains of your operation," he leaned forward and gave an elaborate bow, "I'm a Trickster! And playing with your little family has been such a pleasure, it's like my own live-action doll-house-"

"Well, I'm done playing," the tall man reached behind him and pulled out a gun. I gave a little squeak of fear and backed up further. He pointed it at the janitor, "You're going to let us go, but first you're going to scrunch your nose, or wave your wand, or whatever it is you do, and blink everything back to the way it was before all this started."

"Are you sure about that?" the janitor's voice was sassy, "You were left in a motel room with your kid while your baby bro got to go off hunting the 'Big Bad' who killed your mommy, with the great John Winchester. Wouldn't you much rather be there for the showdown?"

"No, I just want it back the way it was," the man ground out, doing something that made the gun click, "Fix it and make everything right, and give her her memories back."

The janitor laughed. "Dude, guns don't work on me, come on," he rolled his eyes, and snapped his fingers, and the gun disintigrated into powder.

"What the fu-"

All of a sudden the door to the surgical area opened, and a really tall man came running through, holding a long stick.

"Guns don't work, but this will," he said, and he leapt forward and plunged the stick into the janitor's back.

I screamed and covered my face with my hands.

"Son of a-" the janitor said in a surprised voice, and I heard a thump as his body fell.

"Holy crap," the tall man said.

I lowered my hands and looked at the men. Geez, they were both really tall and big!

"You okay, Dean?" the taller man's chest was heaving. He had longer, darker brown hair and was wearing an olive green jacket.

"Yeah, I'm good. You saved our bacon, Sammy. Hey, Charlie-"

The taller man turned and smiled at me, and he had dimples. "Charlie!" he exclaimed happily, "Are you okay, honey?"

"You—you killed that man!" I sad accusingly, and then as we watched, the janitor's body slowly turned to a gray dust that scattered across the floor.

I stared at them, frowning, "What the—what's going on? How do you guys know who I am?"

The man in the leather jacket came over to me. "Charlie, let's sit down and talk-"

I backed away from him. "No! Don't touch me! Who the heck are you guys?"

There was a sound like flapping wings, and then another man appeared in the room. He had short dark hair and was wearing a long tan trench coat.

I screamed in surprise.

"Oh, God, Castiel," the tall man said, "there you are."

"I got here as fast as I could, Dean Winchester," the man in the trenchcoat said. His voice was low and gravelly, "Are any of you injured?"

"No, but she—she doesn't know who we are! How'd he do that, did he mess with her memories? Is it—is it permanent?" Dean Winchester's face was full of worry.

"He's dead, how come she still doesn't recognize us? Shouldn't the spell or whatever have worn off?" the taller man asked with concern.

"It was not a spell," the trench coat man said, "He was bending time and space, reality, if you will, and because of Charlie's abiliites, she was deeply entrenched in it. I will have to try and—fix things in her mind, to disentangle the twisted reality and remove it."

He walked towards me and I backed away. "What're you gonna do?" I asked anxiously.

"Is it- is it safe?" Dean Winchester looked nervous. I noticed that his eyes were very green.

"Yes, it is safe, and things will go back to how they were," trench coat man said. He reached towards me, and lifted his hand up.

"Get away from me!" I tried to bat his hand away. I turned, to try and run, but the other men were right there, and Dean Winchester reached for me and grabbed me.

"Charlie, hold still-" he said as I struggled.

I began to fight and kick as trench coat man came over to us.

"Hey—no—lemme go-what are you-" he put two fingers on my forehead, and then everything went dark.


	81. Chapter 81

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, did you figure it out before the big reveal? I tried to drop some hints, like the name Broward, and the reference to 'pig in a poke', which are both from the episode 'Mystery Spot'. How many clues did you all pick up on? Thanks for bearing with me through all of that, it was a lot of fun to come up with everything and put it together!
> 
> A couple of you have asked what Charlie looks like. I imagine that she has very blonde hair, like Mary in the show, and of course, Dean's green eyes. If you've ever seen photos of Jared Padalecki (AKA Sam) when he's a young boy, I think she kinda has his nose, but smaller. Then Tamilyn313 pointed me towards a model by the name of Laneya Grace. She's a teen now, but if you look at photos of her when she was a kid, I think she looks a lot like how I imagine Charlie to look, except with blonder hair. Look her up and tell me what you think!
> 
> Also...today marks the one year anniversary of me publishing Charlie's story, so "Happy Birthday" to her! I had wanted this chapter to be all about Christmas, but there was still too much to wrap up with the Trickster.  
> **************

Daddy...Dean Winchester. Dean Winchester was my Daddy...I was sure of it. I opened my eyes—I was laying in a bed, in a motel room. I rolled over.

Daddy and Uncle Sam were sitting at the table, looking at Uncle Sam's laptop, and Castiel stood between them, looking at the screen too.

I sat up, and called, "Daddy!" and then I jumped off the bed and ran over to him.

"Charlie!" Daddy put his beer bottle down and met me halfway across the room, picking me up in a fierce hug and squeezing me so tightly that I felt my back pop.

I had started to cry the moment he grabbed me, and I hugged him tightly, burying my face in his flannel.

He sat down, putting me on his lap, and Uncle Sam leaned over and stroked the back of my head. "Hey, Charlie," he said happily. He gave my shoulder a squeeze and then sat up.

"Oh, baby, I'm so glad to see you," Daddy murmured, kissing the side of my head. He looked down at me. "So, what happened to you?"

I leaned back and looked up at him. "What was all that, Daddy? What happened? It wasn't- I wasn't dreaming, 'cause it was real, an' I could feel everything. I mean, I looked at myself an' I had marks on my butt after I got punished by Doug-"

"You what?" Daddy's voice was hard.

Tears filled my eyes. "It was awful, Daddy," I said in a whisper, "My mommy was dead and I was living in a foster home with a bunch of kids, and nobody liked me, an' the foster parents were real mean and made us clean everything all the time...and then when you got in trouble, the foster father would hit us with stuff like a strap and a ruler...an' the social worker lady was looking for you, but she couldn't find you, she said that you were in databases with arrest warrants, and that I wouldn't be allowed to go with you..." I sobbed, "I wanted to find you, so bad, she was gonna put me up for adoption, an' I didn't want that...so I looked in the desk for my file, an' I saw your name, but then Doug, he caught me, an he—he hit me with this cane, an' it was awful, it hurt so bad...an' then he locked me in this little room..."

Daddy pulled me to him and held me as I cried harder for a couple of minutes.

"Now what the hell was the point of all that? Putting Charlie through that hell?" he asked in an angry voice.

"There is no rhyme or reason to what a Trickster does," Castiel said.

"It sounds almost like it was Charlie's version of Hell," Uncle Sam said, "It played directly on her fear of having to leave you, of not having a family."

"Then I was home with Mommy at Christmas, an' it was sad, 'cause she was too sick to do anything...it was like the last two years combined. But then it changed, and I was in the hospital with Mommy, and she- she d-died, and they kicked me out of the room. And then a janitor guy came in and talked to me, and then you showed up, Daddy, but I didn't know who you were," I looked up at him, "Why didn't I know?"

"Because the Trickster messed with your memories," Daddy explained, "He twisted both of our realities around, and I was in a couple different periods in time."

"Like when?" I asked.

"Well, I got to be with you when you were a baby...and then when you were two years old...and then when you were four."

"You did?" I was surprised, "but...you weren't there when I was any of those ages."

"I know, that's part of the twisted reality thing...it was real, but it wasn't. It was another reality, not the real reality. Does that make sense?"

I shook my head. "No."

"We each have our own reality," Uncle Sam said, "And there are some people who think that there are different realities going on alongside our own, that are slightly different than ours, that are caused by different little changes that happen in our lives. And somehow this Trickster was able to tap into that. Do you understand?"

I shook my head again. "No, I don't. Was that who that janitor was?" I looked over at Uncle Sam, "You- you stabbed him with a stick! And then he- he just melted into dust!"

Daddy said, "I'm sorry you had to be there for that, Charlie."

"It was scary...the whole thing was horrible, and I don't want that to happen ever again! What is a...a Trickster, and why'd he do that to us?"

"A Trickster is a creature that can bend reality and alter people's perceptions and memories. They don't have a reason they do the things they do, like Castiel said. They can be cruel in what they choose to make people go through, as we've seen with Charlie," Uncle Sam looked at me.

"He said he—he liked to watch people, and he'd been watching me."

"Did you notice anyone there who wasn't supposed to be there, or someone who was hanging around, off to the side? Like maybe a worker?" Daddy asked.

"Um, when I went to get ginger ale for Mommy, there was a man sweeping the street, even though it was Christmas day, and he talked to me. And then there was the janitor guy," I told him.

"That was him," Daddy said, "He appeared in almost all of my...realities, as a worker of some kind, although I didn't really notice it. He was riding a garbage truck one time, and he was a delivery guy one time. I think...remember when we were at the diner, and they were putting up the Christmas lights? And the man behind the counter asked you to pull his finger? I think- I think that was him, because everything changed right after that."

"Oh...you're right," I could barely remember what that man had looked like. "How...how did you finally know that it was different? Did you remember me like I am now?"

"I suddenly appeared in that reality where you were in the hospital, and I knew that I had to get to you, but I didn't know what was really going on," Daddy said.

"Castiel came to me and told me what had been happening, and he helped me get the stake to use on the Trickster," Uncle Sam chimed in, "I think the Trickster wanted to watch you with Dean, and Dean trying to convince you of who he was, but he didn't count on me being there and aware of what he was doing."

I shuddered, "What would've happened if Castiel wasn't there, would things just... kept going the way they were?"

"We cannot know that," Castiel said, "Tricksters are capricious, he may have just gotten bored eventually and walked away after returning things to the way they were. Or he may have made things get worse and worse, until-"

"Let's not go there," Daddy interrupted him.

"Are you hungry, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked, "it's about time for dinner."

"I guess," I said, sliding off of Daddy's lap, "I hafta go to the bathroom."

Even though I was quick, I still felt nervous being alone in the bathroom. What if, when I opened the door, everything had changed again? What would I do then? My stomach started to twist in a knot with nervousness. I took a deep breath, and then yanked the door open. They all turned to look over at me. I ran into the room.

"I-I got scared, that something was going to change!" I blurted.

Daddy stood up. "Nothing's going to change again, Charlie. It's all right."

I looked around just then, realizing something. "Where's Grandpa John?"

"He's with...Uncle Bobby," Daddy said.

"Did he get that demon guy he was after?"

"He did, and we're going to go and meet up with him soon, okay?" Daddy told me. I wanted to ask more about the demon, but the look on Daddy's face stopped me. He didn't want to talk about it.

I started to get nervous when we drove to a diner. I looked around to see if there were any workmen in the building or see if anyone looked familiar. When the waitress came, I watched her carefully as she took our orders.

I held on to the edge of Daddy's jacket as we sat in the booth, and he looked down at me. "Charlie, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Well if...if something happens, we won't—we won't get separated if we're holding on to each other," I said.

"Charlie, it's okay," Daddy looked down at me.

"But—what if it's the waitress?" I worried.

"What if what's the waitress?" Uncle Sam asked.

"What if she's..." I lowered my voice, "a Trickster?" I whispered.

"The Trickster is gone, honey," Uncle Sam assured me, "and Castiel is with us, he'd be able to sense that a supernatural creature was around."

I looked across the table at Castiel. "You would?"

"Yes, I would, and there are none in the vicinity at this time," Castiel said confidently.

The waitress brought three cups of coffee, and set one in front of Castiel. He looked at Daddy. "I do not understand why humans choose to drink this hot bean water," he said.

"'Hot bean water'?" Daddy choked on a swallow of coffee and then wiped his mouth, chuckling.

"Yes, that is what it is, dried, ground up beans, with hot water poured over them," Castiel peered into the mug, "It does not look appetizing, or seem like it would taste good."

"It wakes you up in the morning, and it is good, when you add some milk and sugar," Uncle Sam said, ripping open some sugar packets.

"Or you could drink it black, like a real man," Daddy lifted his cup in a little salute and smirked at Uncle Sam.

"I prefer that my hot bean water have a little bit of taste," Uncle Sam retorted, and they both laughed.

Even though they had told me that nothing bad was going to happen, I still felt nervous. I could barely eat anything, and I felt on edge. When we went back to the motel, I made sure I was sitting right next to Daddy the whole time. I tensed up when he went to use the bathroom or walked across the room to get himself a beer.

After the cooking show we were watching ended, he turned to me. "Time for you to get ready for bed, kiddo," he said.

"I—I don't want to," I said, feeling my tummy fill with butterflies.

"Well, it's pretty late, and we're going to get on the road early tomorrow, so you need to go to bed," Daddy sipped his beer.

"But Daddy, can't I stay here with you? Please?" I held on to his arm.

He looked at me, frowning slightly. "Charlie, what's going on with you? Why are you acting like this?"

Tears came to my eyes. "Because...what if I wake up and everything's different again? What if I wake up and—and you're gone! What if I don't know you again?" I burst into tears and put my head down.

"Come here, baby," Daddy said gently, and then I felt him pulling me onto his lap. He put his arms around me. "That's not going to happen, all right? I promise. The Trickster is gone, and Castiel is with us, and nothing bad is going to happen."

"But- you said before that there were demons aware of me, an' Castiel said that that shapeshifter guy was working with demons...what if they come an' try to take me away?"

"They will not do that, Charlie, you are protected and warded with me here," Castiel told me.

Daddy looked over at Castiel. "You know, I didn't think I'd agree with you, but I think you might be right."

"Do you wish for me to remove her memories now?" Castiel came over to us.

"I think that might be a good idea," Daddy said.

I looked up at him, and then at Castiel. "What—what d'you mean? How can Castiel do that? How will he know which memories to remove? What if he takes the wrong ones?" I started to get off of Daddy's lap, and he held me by my arms.

"Charlie, it's okay, Castiel knows what he's doing. He'll only take away the memories of what happened with the Trickster, okay?"

"Will it hurt?" I squeaked fearfully.

"No, and I will wait until you are asleep," Castiel said.

"Daddy, I don't wanna go to sleep, I'm scared," tears came to my eyes again.

"All right, get ready for bed, and then I'll sit with you for a while, okay?" Daddy patted my leg.

I sighed, and got up, and did my night-time routine. Uncle Sam came over and gave me a hug and a kiss, and then Daddy sat on the bed next to me. I curled up in his lap and he put his arms around me.

"What was it like when you were in your other reality?" I asked quietly, "When I was little?"

"It was...different than I expected," Daddy said, "I had thought it would just be full of nice little moments, but there were times that it was kinda stressful."

I looked up at him. "How come?"

"Well...you were pretty...spunky, and your mom...she didn't really do much by way of making you do anything."

"I was bad?" I felt embarrassed.

"No, you weren't bad, you were just...a typical little kid, trying to get what she wants. But it's the parent's job to teach the kid how to behave, and to do the right thing, and your Mom...wasn't very good at that," he chuckled, "I was the one who ended up laying down the law with you and making rules and all...and you told me I was a mean Daddy at one point, and that you didn't like me."

"Were you mean to me?"

"No, I was just enforcing the rules and making sure you stayed safe, and you didn't like that. You could unbuckle your car seat straps and get out when you were four, and as you know, that's dangerous. So I ended up spanking you for it."

I felt embarassed again. "Oh."

Daddy hugged me tightly. "It was still good...I got to experience what it was like when you were little, and you were a real cutie, and very sweet with me," he shifted me, and began to card his hand through my hair, the way he had done before when I had a headache. It relaxed me, and I started to fall asleep.

I felt someone moving me, laying me down in bed, and then heard a gravelly voice, "I will remove her memories now...it may make her sleep longer than usual."

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Daddy parked the car at the curb, and turned the engine off. Grandpa John's truck was parked in the driveway.

"Well, here we are," Daddy turned to Uncle Sam, and then glanced back at me, "Ready to go in?"

I felt nervous, but also excited. "Yeah, I can't wait!"

Grandpa John had found a house for us to live in, near where Uncle Bobby lived. Today was the day we were moving in.

I got out of the car and followed Daddy and Uncle Sam up the sidewalk. The house was a two-story with yellow siding and a wooden front porch.

The front door opened as we walked up the steps, and Grandpa John let us into the house. Uncle Bobby stood behind him.

"Hey, darlin', it's so good to see you again!" Grandpa John leaned down and hugged me, lifting me off the ground for a moment. I hugged him around his neck, and he dropped a kiss on top of my head as he set me down.

"How's the rugrat doin'?" Uncle Bobby ruffled my hair and smiled at me.

"I'm okay...glad to be out of the car!"

They all laughed at that.

"They boys grew up in that car, so they were used to long car rides," Grandpa John said, "Well, let's go on a house tour!"

We were standing in the living room, which already had furniture in it. It was a long rectangular room, and the other end was a dining room with a big round table and chairs. Next to that was the kitchen, and then a short hallway that led to a small room that opened out to a patio in the back yard, and a small room that had a washer and dryer in it.

"Wow, we've got our own washer and dryer again," Daddy said.

"I've never had one, that's cool!" I said, opening the dryer and looking in.

We walked back out to the living room. There was another short hallway off to the left that went to a bathroom and a small room full of pieces of furniture which Grandpa John could be used as a study or a guest room. At the end of the hallway was another door, that opened up into a set of two rooms- a bed room and a small living room.

"This is called an in-law suite," Grandpa John said, "I'll take this, and you can have the master bedroom upstairs, Dean."

Daddy looked at Grandpa John. "Are you sure, Dad? I mean, you're, you know, the patriarch and all..."

"Yeah, but you're the head of your family, with Charlie, so you should get the master. I'm fine with this," Grandpa John said with a smile.

We walked back to the stairs and walked up the the second floor.

At the top of the stairs was another hallway. There was a bedroom to the left, and then there was a bathroom to the right and a door that Grandpa John said was a linen closet. Across from the bathroom, at the front of the house, was another bedroom, and then next to that, at the other end of the hall, was a huge bedroom with its own bathroom.

"What do you think, Sam, you take the room at the end, and Charlie will be in-between us?" Daddy asked.

"Sure, that sounds good," Uncle Sam said.

"So, I get the room across from the bathroom?" I asked.

"Yep, that one's all yours!" Daddy grinned at me. I ran back to the room. It had two windows in it, with a twin bed that had a wooden headboard and footboard with carved flowers on it. There was a long, low bureau that matched the bedframe, and had a big mirror attached to it, and a tall bookshelf on the other wall.

"This is great!" I turned around, "it's so big!"

"It's going to be interesting," Uncle Sam said, "We grew up either in motel rooms, or in tiny houses where Dean and I had to share a room. We've never had our own rooms before."

I looked at him. "It's so fun, you can decorate it any way you want to!" I told him, and everyone laughed.

"There are bed linens in the closet, but we'll need to supply our own towels. If Charlie wants anything like new curtains we'll have to get those too. There are some pots and pans and a few dishes in the cabinets downstairs, but we'll need to get some more of those, too," Grandpa John said.

"I don't really care about having a matched set of dishes," Daddy shrugged.

We went downstairs to look in the kitchen, and sure enough, there was only one frying pan, a small pot, and a larger pot that could be used for things like spaghetti. There were only three plates, two bowls, and a small collection of silverware, plus an assortment of mugs and plastic cups.

"Well ya know, I brought some things over from my house," Uncle Bobby said gruffly, "I got a lot of dishes and whatnot that're just sittin' around collectin' dust, figured you all might as well put 'em to use."

"How come you don't use them?" I asked him.

"They're from my wife's family, and I ain't never gonna use 'em. I'm an old bachelor, I use the same couple of dishes over and over," Uncle Bobby said.

Grandpa John was giving Uncle Bobby a serious look. "Are you sure about that?" he asked quietly.

Uncle Bobby shrugged. "Sure I'm sure, I think Karen would want someone to use 'em, and she'd be happy knowin' that a family with a kid was gettin' good use from them."

Daddy was looking at Uncle Bobby in the same serious way. "Well, if you're sure," he said slowly, "Thank you, Bobby, that means a hell of a lot."

Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby walked out to his truck and brought in a couple of cardboard boxes.

"This here's pots 'n pans, this one's got the dishes, and this one's got a bunch of kitchen odds 'n ends," Uncle Bobby put a hand on each box, "Includin' a set of cookie cutters. I ain't never used 'em, and with the holidays comin' up I figured you all could use 'em to make cookies. But ya better bake me a batch or two," he grinned at me.

I opened the box, and pulled out a tin that was marked, "Cookie Cutters" in neat hand-writing. It had a set of metal holiday cookie cutters, a candy cane, a reindeer, a stocking, a tree, a snowflake, a star, and an angel. "This is so cool, thanks!" I hugged Uncle Bobby, "I loved making cookies at Christmas!"

"That's something that we've never done, so you'll have to show us how, Charlie," Uncle Sam said.

"Thank you so much, Bobby," Grandpa John said, and the men hugged for a moment. They all seemed to get teary-eyed, and then Daddy cleared his throat and said, "How about we order some pizza?"

Uncle Bobby left after we ate, and Daddy brought in our duffles with our clothes, and my other bags. I spent some time in my room putting clothes in the bureau, and then I unpacked my bag with all my figurines and lined them up on a couple of the shelves.

Uncle Bobby had brought a box with the toys and books that I had left at his house, so I got those out and put them on the shelf too.

Daddy came to the door with bedding in his hands. "We should make your bed up, it's about time for you to get ready for bed," he told me.

"Okay," I said, getting up from where I was sitting in front of the shelf. He came over to the bed and set the sheets down, and turned to look at the shelf. "That looks good," he said.

"Thanks!" I unfolded the fitted sheet and started to put it on the bed.

"Let me help you," Daddy grabbed the far end and started to tuck it under.

"I can do it myself, I used to have to make Mommy's bed up after she threw up," I told him.

"Oh," he got a funny look on his face.

"But you can help me," I smiled at him, realizing that it was nice to have someone help me. There had been some days when I had had to make her bed two or three times, and go up and down the stairs of the apartment building dragging the sheets to the laundry room.

Daddy helped me with the flat sheet, and then he laid a blanket out. "I forgot to get your Hello Kitty blanket and pillows out of the car, you definitely need those," he said with a smile.

I went to do my night-time routine in the bathroom, and Daddy went downstairs to get my stuff out of the car. I walked downstairs to find everyone when I was done. Uncle Sam was loading the dishwasher, and Grandpa John was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee, making a list.

"What are you doing?" I asked, leaning on his arm.

"I'm making a grocery list for tomorrow, and a list of other things we'll need," he told me. "Is there anything in particular you want from the store, for breakfast and lunch?"

"Can you get some Pop Tarts and Lucky Charms?" I asked.

Uncle Sam gave me a look. "Pop Tarts? That's not a healthy breakfast, that's junk food."

"Well, as long as she eats something else that's healthy along with it, shouldn't that be all right?" Grandpa John turned to look at Uncle Sam.

"I guess...but I don't want her eating things like Pop Tarts all the time," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy came to the door. "You ready for bed, Charlie?"

"Yeah," I said. I followed him upstairs, and realized that Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were following me.

"What're you guys doing?" I asked as they came into my bedroom.

"We want to tuck you in, it's your first night in a real house, with all of us here," Uncle Sam explained. He and Daddy spread my Hello Kitty blanket out, and Daddy set the pillows at the head of the bed, along with MaryBear and my stuffed Hello Kitty. "Charlie, how do you feel about elephants?" he asked me.

"Um, they're okay," I replied, "Why?"

"Oh...no reason."

Grandpa John was looking at my shelves. "You've already settled yourself in," he smiled at me.

I got into bed, and he walked over and leaned down to give me a hug and a kiss. Uncle Sam was next, and they both said good night, and then left. Daddy sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm kinda excited about this," Daddy said, "This is a new chapter in our lives."

"Yeah, it is," I smiled at him.

"We'll need to talk about what we're going to do about your schooling."

I felt nervous. "Uh...school?"

"You might want to go to school, eventually, right?"

"Um, no, not really," I said hesitantly.

Daddy laughed. "Why not?"

"School was boring, I always finished my work first and had to either sit around and wait for the rest of the class, or read a book, or help everyone else. That was kinda fun sometimes, but mostly I got bored."

"Hmm...well, we can see if we can find a school that's not boring, okay? For now, you and Uncle Sam can get back into the swing of things with your home-schooling," Daddy leaned over and hugged me, "I love you, Charlie, and I'm so glad that we're together."

I hugged him back. "Me too, Daddy, I love you," I laid down, and he pulled the covers up. He leaned down and kissed me and then stood up to leave the room.

"Daddy, can you leave the door open? And the hallway light on? It's dark in here, and I'm a little—scared."

"Would you like to get a night-light?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"That's no problem, we can go out tomorrow and get one for you. Good night."

"Good night." I said.

I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't relax. I kept hearing noises, and seeing shadows on the walls. I felt very alone, knowing that they were all downstairs, and that made me start to feel nervous.

I got out of bed and walked downstairs. They were all in the living room, with the t.v on.

"What's up, Charlie?" Daddy asked.

"I'm...nervous, I can't sleep," I admitted, "There's too many weird sounds and stuff."

"It's okay, Charlie, you're safe," Daddy said, sipping his beer.

"But I'm not used to it, and I...I don't like it."

"Well, it's going to take time to get used to it. You weren't even in bed for 10 minutes."

I shuffled my feet and stared at the floor.

"Dean, why don't you go upstairs with her and stay with her until she falls asleep," Grandpa John said, "You know how un-nerving a new place can be for a kid."

Daddy stood up and gave Uncle Sam a look. "This, from the guy who used to tell us that the only night-light we should need is the stars in the sky? Come on, kiddo."

I followed him upstairs and got back into bed, and he sat down next to me.

"Were you scared whenever you were in a new motel room or house?" I asked him.

"No, not really, Sam was more nervous about it than I was, because he was younger. We'd share a bed a lot of the time, too, so that helped us not feel scared," he patted my shoulder, "Roll over, and I'll rub your back."

I rolled onto my tummy, and he started to rub my back, slow, even strokes, up and down, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep.

The next couple of days were busy with shopping trips to different stores. Daddy bought a night-light and a small lamp for my room, and little lights to put in all the hallways. They bought towels, some small rugs, a microwave, and lots of food. Uncle Sam moved a little table into the corner of the dining room for my home-schooling stuff, and he set me up there with my tablet and a bunch of supplies. He said we had to do work every day, and that he wanted me to "buckle down" and really work on my handwriting too. By the end of the week, Daddy had gotten a job at a local garage, as a mechanic. I was happy for him, but also a little sad, because it meant that I wouldn't see him as much.

At breakfast on Saturday morning, Uncle Sam said, "I think we should talk about scheduling and chores."

Daddy gave Uncle Sam a look. "What is it with you and schedules, man?"

"Well, I think it's important to have a schedule for a kid, and it will help Charlie develop a sense of responsibility," Uncle Sam said.

"You boys had to do chores, and you had a training schedule," Grandpa John sipped his coffee.

"Yeah, and I remember a certain little brother always complaining about everything," Daddy retorted, "and we're not training Charlie for anything."

"No-one said anything about training, Dean," Grandpa John said, "But kids do need rules and schedules to help them feel safe. We've talked abut that before. And Charlie's old enough that she can do some chores."

"I know that, I just thought...she had a lot of responsibility with her mom, you know, and it would be nice if she had a break."

"She's had a break, for quite some time," Uncle Sam said, "and now that we're living in a house, I think we should get things back on track. And you know, we always had a schedule of things like doing laundry and cleaning the weapons on certain days."

"Can I help clean the weapons?" I asked.

"No," all three of them said at the same time, and I frowned.

"All right, fine, we should make a schedule of things like laundry day and all that," Daddy agreed, "but the rest of it? I don't know."

"Well, this house isn't going to clean itself," Uncle Sam retorted, "The rugs will need to be vacuumed and the sinks cleaned and all that."

Daddy sighed, "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's talk about it later, and just enjoy the weekend."

"Can we got out and get a Christmas tree?" I asked.

Daddy looked over at Uncle Sam and Grandpa John. "Sure, I guess," he said slowly. He seemed a little uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing...tell us about what you did with your mom, at Christmas time."

"We would make lots and lots of cookies, and put them in little gift bags, and give them to the neighbors in our building. And then we'd make a bunch for Mommy to take to work. Her work always had a big Christmas dinner at a fancy restaurant too, that people could bring their families to. And we'd decorate the tree and put up lights in our windows, and Mommy had a bunch of other decorations she's put out, like a little sled that had pinecones and stuff in it, and some snowman figurines. Then we'd go to Aunt Janice's neighborhood and drive around looking at Christmas lights. There was one street where lots of people put up lots and lots of lights and displays, and people would come from all over to look at everything."

"That sounds like a good start," Uncle Sam said. "Should we go out today and buy the tree and the decorations?"

"We need to get all the stuff to put on the tree first, the ornaments and garland and all!"

"Oh, right," Daddy said.

"Before we leave, I want you to do some writing practice, Charlie," Uncle Sam told me.

"What? But- it's Saturday, kids don't have school on the weekend!" I protested.

"I don't really count it as school-work, it's more an exercise thing." Uncle Sam stood up and took his dish to the sink.

I folded my arms across my chest. "I don't wanna do it!"

"You had to do your exercises every day before, remember? And your writing and hand strength has really fallen behind. I want you to get back to where you were before...everything happened."

"It's not faaaaiir!" I whined, looking at Daddy.

"Don't give me puppy-dog eyes, Uncle Sam is right," Daddy lifted his mug to his lips and took a drink.

"Go get started, and the sooner you get finished, the sooner we can go," Uncle Sam said.

"Fine!" I huffed, standing up and shoving my chair back. I started to walk out of the room, and Daddy caught my arm. "Put your plate in the sink. And lose the attitude."

I glared at him, but I walked back and grabbed my plate, and walked over to the sink. I was about to toss it in, and Uncle Sam caught my eye. "Don't," he said warningly. He took my plate and fork from me, and I sighed. I didn't want to do this!

I sat down at my table in the corner, and opened the notebook that Uncle Sam had made me for writing practice.

"What should I write?" I called to him.

Uncle Sam came to the door. "Write the paragraph that you wrote out yesterday."

"But I'll have to keep turning the page back to look at it!" I complained.

Uncle Sam gave me a look. "How about lines, then, 'I will stop complaining and giving attitude', 50 times."

I huffed at him, and turned to my notebook. I quickly scrawled the paragraph out, listening to them chatting as the finished their coffee. It wasn't fair that I had to do work and they didn't!

I slammed the notebook closed and got up, intending to go upstairs and get dressed.

Uncle Sam came to the door of the kitchen. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm done, I'm gonna get dressed," I said quickly.

"Wait," he said in a deeper voice. He walked over to the desk and opened my notebook, paging through it until he found my work. He turned to me, and a muscle twitched in his jaw. "Get over here," he ground out.

I felt a pang in my tummy as I walked back over to him. "You know better than this, young lady," he said sternly, tapping the page, "Tomorrow, you're going to write me two paragraphs, and they'd better be your best handwriting. You pull this again, and you're going to be in trouble. Is that clear?"

I glanced up at him. "Uh, yes, Uncle Sam," I said quietly.

"Go get dressed," he said.

I turned to go, and Daddy was standing in the doorway, watching us. He frowned at me. "You'd better shape up, Charlie," he called as I walked past him. I gulped, and resolved to start behaving. I didn't want to be in trouble with both of them!

"Do we really need all those ornaments?" Daddy asked with amusement in his voice. I had put three boxes of glass balls in our shopping cart, a box of shiny metal stars, a package with white sparkly snowflakes, and I was holding a box with little angel ornaments.

"We should make little rain coats to put on these angels!" I said with a grin.

Daddy chuckled. "I think we're probably the only people in the world with an angel tht wears a trench coat," he said quietly, "Go ahead and put them in the cart."

"We also need candy canes. And garland. And stockings. For all of us!" I told him.

"All of us?"

"Yeah, all of us need a stocking!"

"What do adults get in their Christmas stocking?" Uncle Sam asked, bringing over a stack of boxed light strands.

"Little bottles of booze, hopefully," Daddy chuckled again.

"Everyone gets lots and lots of candy!" I said. "C'mon, let's go look at stockings!" I pulled on Daddy's hand. Uncle Sam pushed the cart, and Grandpa John walked behind us.

"What kind do you want, Daddy?" I asked him.

"You pick what you want for each of us," Daddy said. I walked up and down the aisle looking at everything, and then I picked a green stocking that was decorated with red ribbons and tassels for Daddy, and a stocking that was opposite for Uncle Sam- red, but decorated with green ribbons and tassels. I picked out a red and green plaid stocking for Grandpa John, and then saw a Hello Kitty stocking at the very end of the aisle. I held it up to show them. "I gotta get this for me!" I said with a grin, and they all laughed.

Our next stop was to buy a tree, and we drove to a local farm and bought a real tree from them. Daddy and Uncle Sam helped Grandpa John tied it into the back of his truck, and then we drove home. Daddy said that we had to wait for the branches to open for a couple of days before we could decorate it. Instead he and Grandpa John found a ladder in the shed that was in the back yard, and went onto the roof to put up Christmas lights on the front of the house. Uncle Sam and I strung garland on the banister going upstairs and then hung our stockings from it. The living room and dining room started to smell like the Christmas tree, and it was a good smell. It made me excited for what was coming up.


	82. Chapter 82

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Just wanted to give you a heads up that updates will be slow in coming for a while. I'm still dealing with depression, which has made it difficult to write. Yesterday I was in a minor car accident, the cars are dented but driveable, and all people involved are uninjured. However, I was in a bad car accident about 18 months ago that cranked my PTSD up to 11, and I've spent all this time since then working on getting back to an even keel and getting comfortable driving again. And now this feels like a major setback, and my PTSD has ramped up a couple notches again. So I don't know when I'll be able to write...I want to, and the stories are in my head, but the motivation and ability to concentrate is not there. Which is upsetting because writing is one of the things that helps me feel better. So, I'm sorry if this disappoints anyone...I'm going to be trying to get over this as quickly as possible and hope that I bounce back faster this time.
> 
> I wanted to share what I had written so far, it's short, and ends abruptly, but there will be more to come eventually.
> 
> Thank you to those of you who take the time to leave reviews and comments, it means a lot. Always Keep Fighting XXXOOO  
> **************

Daddy finished drinking his coffee and stood up, taking his plate and mug over to the sink.

"Well, I'm off, to my first day at work," he said.

I got off of my chair and went over to him, throwing my arms around him. "When will you be home?" I asked.

"Not sure, I think around 4:30, 5 o'clock," he leaned down and hugged me back.

"Can you call me?" I looked up at him.

"Why would I need to call you?"

I shrugged. "Just 'cause...to check in, you know."

He let me go and straightened up. "I doubt I'm going to have time to make any phone calls, I'm probably going to be up to my elbows in carburetors and spark plugs all day," he chuckled.

"Oh," I felt disappointed.

"Don't worry, Charlie, it'll be fine," Daddy said, "You'll be here with Uncle Sam and Grandpa John."

"I know, but...I'll miss you." I felt tears come to my eyes.

He put his hand on my cheek for a moment. "Aww, I'll miss you too, sweetheart, but I'll be home before you know it, all right? Be brave." he patted my cheek, and leaned down to drop a kiss on the top of my head.

"I need to get one of those travel mugs to take come coffee with me," Daddy said to Uncle Sam as they walked into the living room.

I sat down in my chair, wiping my eyes, and finished eating my toast, then took my plate over to the sink.

Grandpa John came into the room, yawning and rubbing his face. I walked over to him and hugged him. "Good morning!" I said, "Daddy just left to go to work!"

"Well, how about that," he said. His voice sounded a little bit hoarse. He walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. Uncle Sam came into the kitchen.

"If you're done, we can get started on your school work, Charlie."

"Okay," I agreed, going into the dining room. Uncle Sam showed me what he wanted me to do for Language Arts, handing me my Kindle. "I put some more books on there for you, a couple more Warrior Cats books, and then the book we're going to be studying. Did you ever read Little Women?"

"I don't think so," I said.

"I found a unit that goes with the book, and there's a history unit that goes with it too, we;ll study the time period that the book takes place in, during and after the American Civil War. It should be interesting to tie the two subjects together."

"Uhh...okay," I said without much enthusiasm. I wasn't very interested in history.

He chuckled. "Well, get started on the first chapter, there's a vocabulary quiz after you're done reading, and a worksheet about the subject of the chapter."

I tapped the Kindle and opened the book, and started to read. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John chatted for a few minutes in the kitchen while Uncle Sam was loading the dishwasher. Then they got Uncle Sam's laptop and went into the living room with it. They set it on the coffee table and started to look something up and talk about it.

The language of the book was old-fashioned and a little hard to get into, but I read it. I didn't have to read the whole chapter, just part of it, and I finished the worksheet and then the vocabulary work soon after that.

I turned around in my seat. "Uncle Sam, I'm finished, what do I do next?" I asked.

They were focused on the lap top.

"Uncle Sam," I called, after they didn't respond to me.

"Hold on," he replied, tapping on the keys. "Look, this shows that there was no action for the past several years, and then things started up again last year. I wonder why that is." He stood up and walked over to me, picking up the tablet and going over what I completed.

"Good job, Charlie, if you want to try and read the whole chapter from now on, you can. Let's do math next, and then handwriting after that."

He showed me the paragraphs that he wanted me to copy out, and the math worksheets that I had to do, then he went to sit back down with Grandpa John.

I concnetrated very hard while working on the math, so I wasn't paying attention, but then when I started to practice my writing, I listened to what they were saying.

"It's only a day away, if we go there in the early morning, we could have it done by the evening," Grandpa John said.

"Yeah, but Dad, we can't go, Dean's working now, and someone's got to stay here with Charlie," Uncle Sam said, "We can't bring her with us, either."

"Oh...right...damn," Grandpa John said off-handedly, "I'll ask Singer if he wants to go."

"He's got that case he's got to be home for, with Rufus, he's got to answer the phones, remember?" Uncle Sam asked.

Grandpa John sighed with annoyance. "Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I thought...I thought we were going to take it easy for a little while, you know, not do any hunting, since we just got rid of- him...you were going to kinda kick back and just enjoy things." Uncle Sam said slowly, like he was nervous about Grandpa John getting angry.

"Sam, I don't want to just 'kick back', there's still-things- out there that need to be dealt with."

"But look around you, we're in this great house, and we've got Charlie here, we need to just spend some time getting used to this-"

I turned around to face them. "I—I can go with you, I'll be good, I won't get in the way, an' I'll stay in the car. Maybe I can help you-"

Uncle Sam shook his head, "Uh-uh, no way. You are not going on a hunt, and you are not helping. Are you finished with your work?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Uh, I'm doing my writing practice," I told him.

"Stop listening to our conversation and get it done. And make sure it's neatly written, or you're going to do it again."

I turned around and lowered my head. "I am writing neat." I huffed under my breath.

"Excuse me? What was that?" Uncle Sam's voice got stern.

"Nothing," I grumbled, picking up my pencil.

Grandpa John said he wanted to go call Uncle Bobby, and he left the room.

"I'm done," I called to Uncle Sam, and he got up and came over to check my work. I had to re-do some of the math problems while he looked at my writing.

"This looks very good, Charlie," he set the notebook down, "See what you can do when you go slowly and neatly? How does your hand feel?"

"It's okay, it doesn't hurt," I said.

"Good. No more getting annoyed and writing sloppy on purpose, you hear me?"

I blushed a little. "Yes, Uncle Sam."

He checked over the math, and then told me I could take a break. I took the Kindle up to my room and laid down on my bed to start reading the next Warrior Cats book since I hadn't read one in a long time. I finished the first two chapters, and felt like I was getting hungry. I tapped the screen to close the page, and a window popped up that said, 'Do you wish to make any more purchases?'

I clicked on it, and realized that the Kindle was still signed into the website where you bought books and stuff for it. I started to poke around on the site and found some other books I had wanted. One of them was on sale "for free, until the end of the week!", so I clicked on it. Another window popped up that said, "S W Winchester shopping basket". I started clicking around and found a couple of other books that were free. If they were free, I wouldn't get into any trouble for spending money. I added the free books to the basket, and was about to hit the 'purchase' button, when I noticed a sidebar that said, 'If you liked those books, you might like these games!'

I hesitated for a moment. I wasn't allowed to put games on the tablet...but this was a Kindle, not a tablet, and it was mine, right? It had been my Mom's, and now it was mine, so I could do what I wanted with it. The tablet was Uncle Sam's, so I had to do what he said with that.

I clicked on the sidebar and started looking at the games. One of them was like a math game that my teacher had had at school, that I had liked a lot. I added that one to the basket, because it was an educational game. Then I found the word search game that my mom had played, and I added that too. She said that even though it was a game it was teaching me about vocabulary, so it was educational too. I found a puzzle game like the one that I liked, and it was only one cent, so I added that the the basket as well.

"Charlie, it's lunch time!" Uncle Sam called up the stairs. I sat up and quickly clicked the 'purchase all' button, and then closed the browser window. I turned off the Kindle and ran downstairs.

After we ate lunch, Uncle Sam wanted me to do some more work. The science unit was on types of forests and the life cycle of a tree, and he talked about the Christmas tree and how it grew and what type of forest it was from. Then I had to read about the Civil War and do a worksheet about that, which I didn't like. After that, I was finished for the day, and Uncle Sam said I could do what I wanted.

I sat down on the sofa and turned on the tv, and watched some cartoons. Grandpa John came out to the living room and picked up Uncle Sam's laptop, taking it into the kitchen, and I heard them talking again. Uncle Sam called me into the kitchen to set the table, which was one of my chores. I was laying the silverware out next to each plate when I heard the front door open, and I ran out to the living room. Daddy stood in the doorway, and I ran to him, exclaiming, "Daddy!"

Tears came to my eyes as He picked me up and hugged me, and then set me on the floor. He smelled like a car engine.

"So, how was it?" Uncle Sam asked from the doorway.

"It was fine," Daddy said, "I want to take a quick shower and wash all the grease off."

"Go ahead, there's time."

"I missed you!" I looked up at Daddy.

He smiled at me. "What did you do, besides sit around missing me?"

"I did school work an' all," I said.

"You can tell me about it during dinner, okay?" he left the room and went upstairs.

After dinner, we decorated the Christmas tree together. Daddy had told me that they hadn't ever really celebrated Christmas or holidays, because Grandpa John was usually off hunting. He had explained that Grandpa John had been so upset about his wife dying for a long time that he didn't ever want to celebrate, so he would go off and hunt. If Daddy and Uncle Sam happened to be staying with people during the holidays, then they would celebrate, but the older they got, the less they did. It was kinda sad to hear that, but Daddy said it was what he knew, so he wasn't really missing anything. And that he was excited to do stuff to celebrate with me now.

Decorating the tree made me excited, and it was hard for me to fall asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and it was hard to go back to sleep, so I went downstairs and turned on the lights of the tree, and sat there eating an apple in the dark.

I heard a noise at the end of the hall, and looked up- Grandpa John was standing there with something shiny in his hands. He tucked it behind him, and said, "Charlie, what are you doing up?" his voice was rough and he sounded irritated.

"I couldn't sleep," I told him, "I'm excited about Christmas!"

"Well, you need to stay in bed," he said sternly, "You can't be traipsing all over the house in the middle of the night. Once you're put to bed, you stay there."

I sighed. "Okaaay," I said. I finished eating the apple and threw the core away, and then I went upstairs to my room. I still couldn't sleep, so I pulled out my Kindle and played one of the games for a while. Finally I felt tired, and I shut the Kindle down and went to sleep.


	83. Chapter 83

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi all, thank you for all the kind comments and messages you've sent. This has been hard for me, when I am a passenger in a car, I spend the whole time in a state of anxiety, and I've driven a short distance twice and almost had a panic attack, and cried, after. But I've adjusted my medication and am having therapy more often, to help me out. PTSD cannot be "cured" and it will never go away, but I can, and will, be able to manage it better in the future. I know I can get through this and come out on top, but it's rough right now. Knowing I have so many people in my corner is helpful and I am so grateful for all of you who read and share and comment on my stories. I'm hoping to have one more chapter out before Christmas, so I wanted to get this published. Writing is going slowly, but it's going! Thanks for being patient with me, and Always Keep Fighting! XXXOOO  
> *********************

Over the next few days we fell into a routine. I did school-work in the morning, then we ate lunch, I did more work, and then that was it for the day. Uncle Sam tried to include things we did around the house as part of our work- he had me sit down with him and plan out meals for the week, and then we went grocery shopping and he had me write down how much everything cost and keep track of it. Then when we got home we tried to figure out how much each meal cost for each person according to how much money we had spent. He said it was part of the math curriculum, but I didn't mind. It was fun to go to the store with him and be able to pick things off the shelf.

I had chores too, I had to make my bed every morning, make sure I put my dirty clothes in the hamper, put away my toys every night, and set the table before meals. Then after the table was cleared I had to wipe the table off and then sweep the kitchen floor. I also got to help Uncle Sam with making dinner sometimes and he taught me how to use a knife so I could cut up things like cucumbers, but either he or Grandpa John sat right next to me and watched me the whole time.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

We had just finished lunch when the doorbell rang. Uncle Sam went to the door, and I heard him talking to someone.

"Charlie!" he called to me.

Curious, I walked into the living room. There was a young girl on the porch, with dark reddish-brown hair. She said, "Hi, I'm Macy, wanna come draw with us? We're drawin' with chalk on the sidewalk. We live, uh, a coupla houses up from you," she turned and pointed to the side.

I looked up at Uncle Sam. "Um-"

"Sure, would you like to?" he asked, smiling at me.

"Uh, okay," I said.

"It's not too cold out, but I still want you to wear your coat," he told me. I put my coat on, and then I saw him shrugging into a jacket as well.

"I'll come with you, and see if there's any parents I can meet. It would be good to meet some neighbors," he said.

Macy turned to look at me. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Charlie," I said, feeling shy.

Their house was three houses down from ours. There was a woman with red hair on the front porch, holding a wreath.

"Mommy!" Macy called, "This is our new friend Charlie!"

The woman set the wreath down and came over to us. "Hi Charlie, I'm Stella, and that's Cara." Cara was a little girl who was sitting on the sidewalk scribbing with a piece of chalk.

Uncle Sam followed behind us. "Hi, I'm Sam," he held his hand out to Stella and they shook.

"So, you just moved in? Where are you from originally?" Stella looked at him with curiousity.

"Oh, we, uh, move around a lot," Uncle Sam said, "We were in Kansas for a while. Decided it was time for a change."

"I see," she looked at me, "So, Charlie, what grade are you in?"

"Um, I'm in third," I felt myself start to blush, and I glanced up at Uncle Sam.

"I home-school her," Uncle Sam said smoothly.

Stella nodded. "I know some other families that do that."

"I'm in pre-school an' I'm gonna go to kindy-garden nex' year!" Macy exclaimed.

"May-May, daw!" Cara stood up and toddled over to us, handing Macy a piece of chalk. She looked at me, and then up at Uncle Sam, and her mouth dropped open. She hurried over and ducked behind Stella, and then peered around her legs.

"Mommy, who dat big guy?" she asked in a whisper.

Uncle Sam leaned down a little and smiled at Cara. "My name is Sam."

Cara hid her face in the backs of her mom's knees, and Stella and Uncle Sam laughed.

"Well, I'll let you get back to decorating," Uncle Sam stood back up, and walked back towards our house.

"Cara, this is Charlie," Macy said, "C'mon, let's draw."

I followed Macy over to the pile of chalk and we sat down and began to draw together. In a moment, Cara moved away from her mom and came over to us.

Stella said to me, "So, he stays home and takes care of you while your mother works?"

"No, my Daddy works. He's my Uncle Sam."

She nodded. "Oh! That's... nice. Macy has a friend in her class that has two Dads."

I looked at her, confused. "Uncle Sam isn't my Daddy, he's my Uncle!"

"Oh, I see, you have a Dad and then you call him...Uncle?"

"He's my Daddy's brother, he really is my uncle!" I didn't understand why she was so confused.

She frowned slightly "Oh...well, uh, where's your mother?"

"She, um, she passed away," I looked down at the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Stella said apologetically, "That must have been- I didn't mean-" she stopped and sighed, "It's nice that your Uncle is helping your Dad raise you."

"And my Grandpa John lives with us too," I said, and then I remembered Missouri telling me not to give people more information than they need.

"Your grandfather too? So you've got three generations living together, it's nice to have a multi-generational house-hold."

"Yeah, I guess," I said, and she chuckled.

Macy chattered almost non-stop, she said there were other kids that lived on the street, further up, but that they didn't play with her because they were older and went to "big kid's school". She told me about the kids in her class and the projects that she did- it made me kinda miss going to school and doing stuff like art class.

After her Mom hung three wreaths on the front windows of their house, she came over to us. "It's time for us to go inside now," she said, bending down.

"No, Mommy, I daw," Cara said.

"It's resting time, so we need to go inside. Macy, clean up the chalk, please." Stella said. Cara started to fuss and whine, and Macy looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"It's n-a-p time for Cara an' she hates it," she told me in a loud whisper, "I gotta go in an' have quiet time in my room."

I helped her put the chalk pieces into the little plastic carrying case, and then we stood up.

"Thanks for letting me color," I said.

"Thanks for coloring wif me, we gotta play sometime!" Macy said. Stella was carrying Cara, who was now crying, into the house. I turned and walked back to our house and went inside.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

"Macy's Mommy said something funny," I told them at dinner, "She thought that Uncle Sam was my Daddy too, and that I just called him Uncle! She said that Macy has a friend in her class with two Dads!"

Daddy choked on his beer, and pounded his chest. His face got red as he coughed.

"Are you okay, Daddy?" I asked. He nodded. "She didn't get it at first until I told her that Uncle Sam really was your brother! What's that about?"

Daddy looked across the table at Uncle Sam. "Uh, well-"

Uncle Sam cleared his throat. "Well, Charlie, sometimes a man and a woman fall in love and are in a relationship, and sometimes it can be a man and another man, or a woman and anoth-"

"Oh, you mean gay? Eric and Noah were together, they lived in our building for a while, Mommy said that they had been married longer than most people she knew, for 23 years! They used to have people over for drinks on Friday nights and I would go with Mommy, and Eric would always give me cookies and juice and let me watch t.v. in their room. They were real nice but they had to move away," I told them.

Daddy and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John all looked at each other, and then they started to laugh.

"What?" I asked, looking around at them.

Daddy shook his head. "Charlie, I just—you know a lot more about the world than most kids your age...you constantly surprise me with the things you know about!" He leaned over and ruffled my hair.

Then it dawned on me. "Do you think...that Macy's Mom thought that you and Uncle Sam are gay?" I gasped.

Daddy looked at Uncle Sam and they chuckled. Daddy shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time someone has thought that."

"It wouldn't?" I asked.

"No, I guess, people see a handsome guy with another guy and they assume that they must be a couple," Daddy said.

"A handsome guy and another guy? Who would you be talking about, Dean?" Grandpa John said.

"Well, of course, I'm the handsome guy," Daddy said confidently.

Uncle Sam shook his head and chuckled. "Sure, Dean, whatever."

"Hey, I'm just speaking the truth," Daddy said.

"How did I ever get such a modest son?" Grandpa John joked, and Uncle Sam balled up his napkin and threw it at Daddy.

After we finished eating, Grandpa John loaded the dishwasher and Daddy made coffee. Grandpa John handed me a damp paper towel and I wiped the table off. Then after they left I got the broom out and swept the floor, and cleaned up the crumbs with the dustpan.

They were all sitting in the living room with coffee when I came into the room, and I went to sit next to Daddy. He put his arm around me and I snuggled into his side. We had after dinner snuggles now instead of morning snuggles like we had been doing, because Daddy didn't have time in the morning. We watched a Christmas cartoon about Frosty the Snowman, and then a Christmas-themed cooking show. When the show was over, Daddy told me to get ready for bed. I went upstairs and did my night-time routine, and then called down to them that I was ready. All three of them came up to say good night to me. Daddy sat down on the edge of the bed after Uncle Sam and Grandpa John had hugged and kissed me, and then left.

I remembered last year, when I had been taking care of my mom, and there had been holiday stuff going on at school, and how excited I'd get, but then when I got home there would be nothing except sheets to wash and microwaved meals for me.

I threw my arms around Daddy and buried my face in his shirt.

"What's wrong?" he asked, putting his hand on my back.

"N-nothing...I mean, I was just thinking of last year, an' how...it's so different now." I whispered, feeling my throat get tight. I didn't want to cry right now!

"Well, that's not nothing," Daddy looked down at me and hugged me. "I know it was...you had it rough, with your mom, and all...I know it's sad that she's gone, and you miss her, but...I'm glad that you're with me now. That we're all together."

"Me too," I said, and tears came to my eyes. I swiped my hand across my face and sniffled. "I don't wanna cry, is this always gonna happen?" I asked frustratedly.

"No, it won't. It's okay, though, it's been less than a year since—since your mom—and it's your first Christmas without-" he cleared his throat, "In a different situation."

He stroked my hair back from my face. "It's okay to cry and feel sad, you know."

"I guess...I just don't want to!" I frowned.

Daddy chuckled. "Well if it happens, let it happen, okay? Don't try and keep it inside."

"Okay, Daddy," I hugged him tighter, and he squeezed me back. "Will you stay here with me for a little?"

"Sure," he said, and he moved so that his back was propped against the headboard. I curled up against his side and he put his arm around me. I liked that they all came to say good night to me, and I liked that Daddy would stay with me while I fell asleep. It hadd been hard to get used to being in my own room at night, knowing that I was on a different floor of the house than all of them. Daddy had gotten little lights to put in the hallways leading downstairs and I kept my bedroom door open as I was falling asleep, and that helped me feel not so alone.

Daddy had gotten multi-colored Christmas lights for the upstairs rooms, and I had lights around my windows now. It made my room a little brighter, but I didn't mind it, because I liked looking at the lights. I fell asleep watching the lights and feeling Daddy carding his hand through my hair.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

It wasn't fair. Everyone was grumpy. Daddy was tired when he got home from work, and didn't want to do much. Grandpa John was restless, and spent a lot of time either on Uncle Sam's computer or going to the library to do research. He was short-tempered and snappy. Uncle Sam was trying to "keep the house running" with preparing meals and making sure I did my school work and keeping up with chores and all, and he was always busy. We were supposed to be feeling happy and relaxed about Christmas, but it seemed like no-one was. Every time I mentioned something, like baking cookies, or going out to look at lights, or shopping, I was told, "We'll do it later."

When Uncle Sam called me down for dinner on Friday, Grandpa John was showing Daddy something on the laptop, in the living room.

"I've put this pattern together, and I've figured out what it is," he was saying, "We need to go out tomorrow and get some sage, and some mugwort, and then we can take care of it."

"Tomorrow?" I said, looking back and forth between Daddy and Grandpa John. "But- we were gonna walk over to that playground that's a couple streets over, and then drive around looking at Christmas lights in the evening!"

"Well...Dad..." Daddy looked uncertain.

"Dean, time is of the essence here," Grandpa John said in a tense voice.

"Why do you always gotta be doing a hunt?" I yelled, suddenly frustrated.

Grandpa John got angry. "Excuse me, young lady? You will not raise your voice to me. And last time I checked, you weren't part of this conversation," he was frowning.

"But it's not-"

He interrupted me. "And there are more important things going on right now than looking at Christmas lights and playgrounds!"

That hurt my feelings, but I got mad instead of crying. "You're just a—a big meany! All you care about is doing research and hunting, and nothing else!" I stomped my foot.

Grandpa John turned to face me and put his hands on his hips, and a muscle twitched in his jaw. "You want to watch your attitude, little girl," he growled, "You're headed for a trip over my knee if you keep it up!"

I glared up at him. "Let's just forget about Christmas then, and all of you can just keep hunting forever and ever! I'm sure that would make you happy, and then you'd stop being a grumpy-pants all the time!" I burst into tears and turned, to run up to my room, but in two quick strides Grandpa John was right next to me, and he took my arm and turned me-

"DAD!" both Daddy and Uncle Sam yelled at the same time.

Grandpa John dropped my arm, and Daddy came over and put his arms around me.

I buried my head in Daddy's side and continued to cry.

"Dad, I'm not hunting with you, I told you that," Daddy said flatly.

"And I thought we'd talked about just getting used to living this life for a while," Uncle Sam said.

"Dammit, I don't want to do this!" Grandpa John said with frustration, "I—I don't know how to do this, I'm used to hunting, that's what I've been doing for damn near three decades, and I can't just- sit back and relax!"

"Well, you're going to have to, or else start going out on your own," Daddy told him, "I meant what I said, I'm taking a break from that life for now. Look... you got him, Dad, you got the 'Big Bad' that you'd been after for all those years, can't you just celebrate that for now, and enjoy the fact that you don't have to spend all your waking hours looking for him any more? You got your revenge...it's time to just enjoy things for a while."

I heard Grandpa John exhale a big breath.

"We've got a house now, a nice house for once, and we're all here together, and you've got your kids and your grand-daughter here with you...can't you enjoy that?" Uncle Sam's voice was gentle.

Grandpa John said, "Sammy..." and he sounded upset.

"This is a big change for all of us. And you can't keep on going like you've been going and being stubborn about it and insisting that we all go along with you."

"You're right...I'm sorry, Dean," Grandpa John said, low.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to," Daddy said sternly.

I heard Grandpa John sigh again, and then he crouched down in front of me. "Charlie...look at me, sweetheart," he said gently, and I turned my head to him. "This is not something I'm used to...and your Dad's right, I'm just a stubborn old coot who's set in his ways...I need to change...and I'll work on that from now on. I'm sorry, Charlie, I didn't mean to be so harsh before. Come here," he reached for me, and I went to him, and he hugged me. "I've never done a lot of this...family stuff...before, so it's new to me too...can you be patient with me while I try to get used to it?"

I put my arms around him. "Yeah," I said faintly.

He kissed the side of my head. "I'm sorry I've been so grumpy with you, darlin'."

"We need to find some other things for you to do, Dad," Uncle Sam said, "How do you feel about golf? I saw that there were flyers for Bridge and Mah-Jongg over at the library."

Grandpa John let me go and stood up. "You can wipe that smirk off your face, Sam, I'm not doing any of that old-man stuff just yet. I'll find something to do with myself. Let's go eat, and then we can make plans for this weekend."


	84. Chapter 84

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a Very Charlie Christmas! Fluff and feels ahead...hope you all had a lovely holiday, whatever you celebrate, and a Happy New Year to all of you! XXXOOO #ALWAYS KEEP FIGHTING  
> ***************

It was still dark outside when I woke up. I laid in bed for as long as I could, but I was too excited. It was Christmas! Christmas morning! Finally, as the sky was just starting to lighten up, I got out of bed and hurried down the hall to Daddy's room. I bounced onto the end of his bed.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" I called, crawling up towards him. He raised his head with a jerk, and blinked sleepily at me. "Oh, Charlie-" his voice sounded rough from sleep.

"It's Christmas, Daddy! C'mon, get up!" I pulled on his arm.

He lifted the covers up and then put his arm around me and pulled me into him. "How about some Christmas snuggles, huh?" he tucked my head under his chin. "Give me another couple minutes."

I curled up against his chest, and closed my eyes, but I was too excited to stay still for long. I pulled on his wrist. "Come on, Daddy!" I exclaimed, sitting up.

"All right, all right," he sat up as I got off the bed.

"I'm gonna go wake Uncle Sam up!" I said, and I ran down the hall.

"Charlie-" Daddy called after me.

I patted Uncle Sam's arm, and said, "Merry Christmas, Uncle Sam! It's time to get up!"

He slowly blinked his eyes and looked at me, and then grinned. "Oh, it is, huh? Time to get up according to who?"

"To me!" I said happily, and he laughed.

Daddy was standing in the doorway. "I tried, Sammy, but she's too excited. She was practically vibrating in bed next to me."

"I'm sure," Uncle Sam yawned as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Daddy went down the stairs first, followed by me, and then Uncle Sam. About halfway down the stairs, we started to smell the most delicious smells- freshly baked pies!

"What the he-" Daddy started to say as we walked into the living room.

There were freshly baked cooling pies everywhere- on almost every flat surface there was a pie.

Uncle Sam looked around the room. "How in the world-"

"It was Castiel!" I jumped up and down and clapped my hands. "It's my present to you, Daddy! Lots and lots of pie!" I laughed happily. I had talked to Castiel about what I wanted to get for each of them, and he had said he would do what he could to help me.

"Well I'll be-" Daddy walked over and dug his finger into one of the pie crusts, scooping a little bit of the filling out. "This one's blueberry, oh my God, is it good!" he licked the filling off of his finger, and then offered me some.

"It is yummy!" I said.

"I'll go get the coffee started, why don't you go wake your Grandpa," Uncle Sam said to me, turning on the Christmas lights. I looked at the tree and noticed that there were a lot of presents piled under it. I felt excited and a little nervous- how many of them were for me?

I pulled on Daddy's hand. "C'mon, Daddy, come with me!"

He followed me down the hall, and tapped on the closed door. Then we went into Grandpa John's room. I could hear light snoring as we walked into his bedroom, and then he sat up and blinked at us. "What's-" he started, and then he rubbed his face.

"Merry Christmas, Grandpa John!" I said, going over to him and hugging him.

He chuckled. "Merry Christmas, little one," he hugged me back.

"I tried to get her to rest with me for a while, but she was having none of it," Daddy told him.

"Well I woke up a lot earlier, and I stayed in bed as long as I could. I waited until it started to get light out before I got out of bed!" I told them, and they laughed.

We walked back out to the living room together. Uncle Sam had brought out dessert plates, forks, and the pie cutter, and set them on the coffee table. He moved to the side, and I noticed something big in front of the tree, covered with a blanket. It hadn't been there before, when we first came into the room.

"What is that?" I asked, looking up at Daddy.

He glanced at Uncle Sam, and got a little smile on his face. "Take the blanket off, and see what it is, Charlie," he said.

"It—it's for me?" I asked. I had no idea what it could be.

"Go ahead," Uncle Sam said. I stepped up to it and pulled the blanket off, and gasped- it was a bicycle! The frame was a dark pink color, and the seat was sparkly, and it had a little basket on the front with Hello Kitty on it, and there were sparkly streamers hanging off of the handle bars.

I burst into tears.

"What is it, Charlie?" Daddy asked, leaning down and picking me up. He put his hand on my back, and I buried my face in his neck and just cried for a few minutes.

"Do you like it?" he asked quietly.

"Y-yeah, I do... I never got anything big like this before...I could never have a bike or anything like that at the 'partment, 'cause we lived on the second floor an' there wasn't any place to store it...an' I wasn't sure what was going to h-happen this year..." I didn't know how to explain how unsure I had felt about Christmas, because of how it had been the past two years, and how I didn't want to get my hopes up.

"Well, we wanted to make it special for you this year, Charlie," Daddy said, hugging me, and that made me get more tears in my eyes.

He sat down with me in his lap, and Uncle Sam came over. "Do you want some pie?" he asked.

"I'd like a slice of cherry," Daddy said.

"No thanks," I said, leaning against Daddy. Uncle Sam served Daddy a slice of pie, and he shifted me a little on his lap so he could eat. Grandpa John brought a mug of coffee in for Daddy and sat down with another mug in his other hand.

"Well, should we get started opening presents?" Uncle Sam asked, "How do we do this?"

"Start handing them out, Sammy," Daddy said.

Uncle Sam pulled a box out from under the tree, and looked at the front. "It says, 'To John Winchester'- who is this from?"

He handed it to Grandpa John, and he removed the wrapping paper. It was a cardboard box with a photo of a bottle on the front.

He turned the box, and read, "Talisker Scotch Whisky 25 year, Made by the Sea," he looked at me, and then at Daddy, "It says it's made on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. How did you-"

"That's from me, Grandpa John!" I smiled at him, "I asked Castiel to get you something good from another country!"

All three of them laughed. "I can't believe you sent an angel out to get things like pie and whiskey!" Daddy said.

"He said he'd help me get presents for all of you, 'cause he's my guardian angel!" I told them.

"I don't know if that's what a guardian angel is supposed to do, but I'll go with it," Grandpa John chuckled.

Uncle Sam picked up another present and looked at it. "Charlie," he leaned over and handed it to me. I took it, and looked at it. The tag said, 'To: Charlie, From: Daddy'. I looked up at him, and he smiled, and said, "Open it."

I tore the paper off and opened the box. It was a fleece shirt with Hello Kitty's head on it, but she was made with silver sequins.

"Wow, it's so pretty! Thank you!" I exclaimed, and Daddy chuckled and squeezed my shoulder.

There was the sound of flapping wings, and then Castiel appeared next to the tree. He was holding a large box under one arm and a basket in the other.

"Castiel!" I jumped up and went over to him.

He looked over at Daddy. "My apologies for not using the door, my hands are full and I would not be able to knock."

"Is this it?" I stood on my tiptoes and looked into the basket.

"Yes, Charlie, I have just traveled to the Southern Hemisphere to get the last of them," Castiel handed me the basket, and I turned and walked over to Uncle Sam, who stood up.

"This is for you!" I said to him, and he took the basket. It had all different kinds of fruit from all over the world- each piece of fruit had a string wrapped around it with a written label. Uncle Sam looked through the basket. "Kiwi fruit, Persimmon, Star Fruit, Chayote, Jackfruit, Lychee, Mangosteen- I can't wait to try these! This is great, thank you!" he ruffled my hair and then looked at Castiel. "You- went all over the world and got these?"

Castiel nodded, "Yes, I either picked them in the wild or got them from a street vendor. I made sure they are all fresh."

"Thank you," Uncle Sam walked over to Castiel and extended his hand. Castiel looked down at Uncle Sam's hand with a confused frown.

"Some people shake hands instead of hugging," I explained to the angel.

"I see," Castiel took Uncle Sam's hand and shook it.

"Thanks for the pies, it was awesome to come downstairs and smell all of them," Daddy said.

"You are welcome, Dean Winchester."

"Can I get you a piece?" Daddy stood up.

"I do not need to eat or drink," Castiel said, setting the box down on the floor.

"I know you don't need to, but you should have some pie anyway, it's a holiday," Daddy said. He cut a slice of apple pie and plated it, and handed it to Castiel. We watched as he dug the fork into the pie and put a small piece into his mouth.

He chewed slowly, looking uncomfortable. "Tastes like...molecules," he said, "I know that this vessel had to eat all the time, I have his memories of food but this is—overwhelming."

"Sorry to hear that," Daddy clapped Castiel on the back and took the plate out of his hands. "More for me, then."

Castiel leaned down and picked up the box, and held it out to Sam.

"What's this?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Charlie also asked me to get some books for all of you, books that pertain to hunting and lore."

Uncle Sam set the box on the coffee table and opened it, and began to pull books out. He handed a couple to Grandpa John, who looked at the spines. "The Conjurer's Handbook of 1902," he read off of one, "Arcanum and Philosophy," he looked up at Castiel. "Where did you find these?" he asked, sounding awed.

"Many of them were sitting in dark corners of bookshops, you just have to know where to look," Castiel said.

"This is a first edition of the Encyclopedia of Creatures and Spirits," Uncle Sam had opened a book and was looking at the title page. He looked up at Grandpa John. "Remember when we visited Madame Solange- she had a copy of this book, and I remember being really impressed by it. It was one of the ones that got lost in the fire, too."

Grandpa John put the books on the sofa and reached into the box to get more out. He pulled out a big book with a thick black cover that was crumbling on the edges, and read the title in another language. "This should be interesting," he said, chuckling. He set it down on top of the other books.

Daddy walked over to the coffee table and set the plate and fork down, and began to look through the box of books too.

I wandered over to stand next to him, and looked down at the big book that Grandpa John had just taken out of the box. All of a sudden, I felt drawn to it, and then-

-I was seeing a heavyset man wearing a dark robe, standing in front of a table. There were lit candles, bowls of herbs and bunches of flowers, pieces of paper with drawings on them, and small bottles full of powders and liquids scattered across the surface of the table. There was a wide flat metal bowl in front of the man, and he began to read something out loud from the big book that was open next to his elbow, and the words were in a different language. He picked up a small knife and sliced open his palm, holding his hand over the bowl and letting the blood drip into it-

"CHARLIE!" Daddy yelled, and I felt him pulling something out of my hands.

I looked up at Daddy, and I said something, but it was in another language. It scared me, and then it felt like I was being stabbed in the head by something, and then everything started to go dark-

I woke up slowly, feeling like I was laying down. I opened my eyes and turned my head—I was laying on the sofa with my head in Daddy's lap.

He looked down at me. "Hey, sweetheart," he said softly, "How are you feeling?"

I started to sit up and whimpered—my head hurt, but not as bad as it had in the past.

"My head hurts, but only a little bit," I told him.

"I grabbed the book as soon as you picked it up, maybe that's why. You didn't really have much chance to get anything from it," Daddy helped me sit up all the way. He leaned over and picked up a small medicine cup that already had pink liquid in it. "Here," he said, handing it to me, "take this."

I drank the medicine, and then he handed me a glass of water and I drank some of that.

Grandpa John came into the room from the kitchen, holding a mug. "There she is!" he said, coming over to us. He sat down at the end of the sofa and asked, "How are you feeling, darlin'?"

"My head hurts some, but it's not too bad," I told him. I looked around. The box and the books were nowhere in sight, and Castiel wasn't around either.

"Where'd Castiel go?" I asked.

"He, uh, left, to find something to put the books in, so that you won't be—bothered by them," Daddy told me, "Are you hungry, or would you like to open some more presents? We barely got started, there's a lot more under the tree!"

"Can I have some coffee?" I asked shyly, "It's s'posed to help with headaches, ya know!"

Daddy and Grandpa John looked at each other and laughed. Grandpa John stood up. "All right, little one, I'll get you some coffee, because it's Christmas," he said, grinning at me. He went back into the kitchen, and I heard him talking to Uncle Sam.

"You scared me, Charlie," Daddy put his hand on my back, "I guess I...forgot about your, you know, reading things like that. We're going to have to be more careful."

"I'm sorry," I leaned on his chest.

"No, you don't have to apologize, it's not your fault," Daddy said, "We need to remember about your abilities and make sure we're keeping you safe."

Grandpa John and Uncle Sam came into the room, and Uncle Sam set a mug down in front of me.

"Have some coffee, and then let's get these presents opened," he said, smiling at me. I drank some of the coffee as Uncle Sam handed presents to Daddy and Grandpa John.

An hour later, all the presents had been unwrapped. I was looking through one of the new books I had gotten.

"It's going to take another couple of hours before the ham is ready, do you want to try and ride your bike, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.

"O-okay," I said uncertainly.

"It's got training wheels, so that will help your balance," Daddy said, "Go get dressed and I'll help you."

I ran upstairs to get dressed, and when I came back down, Daddy had taken the bike out to the sidewalk. Uncle Sam handed me the helmet that I had also gotten, and I put it on. He had to tighten the chin strap for me, and that took a couple of minutes. Grandpa John came out onto the porch to watch.

"Do I have to wear the pads too?" I asked. I had also gotten elbow and knee pads, and they seemed bulky.

"Until you've learned how to ride, yes, I want you to wear them," Daddy said.

I sighed, and pulled the knee pads on. "Look, they feel weird," I complained.

"Loosen the strap a little, so they're not so tight," Uncle Sam said, pulling on the strap that went behind my knee.

I sighed again as he helped me pull the elbow pads on. "I want to see you always wearing these, too, until you're confident in your ability to ride," Uncle Sam said firmly.

"And the helmet is non-negotiable," Daddy chimed in, "You always wear it, no matter what."

"Okaay," I huffed.

"Excuse me?" Daddy raised his eyebrows at me.

"Yes, Daddy," I got on the bike and put my feet on the pedals.

"Have you ever ridden a bike before?" Daddy asked me.

"A couple times, when we visited some friends, when I was real little, it was a bike that had big extra wheels on the back so it wouldn't fall over."

"Well, the training wheels will prevent you from falling, but you have to try and balance, too," Daddy explained, "Push the pedals forward."

I pushed my feet on the pedals, watching what I was doing.

"Steer!" Daddy said behind me, "Don't forget to steer the bike too, and look where you're going!"

"Oh!" I looked up and pulled the handle bars over- I had been so busy looking at the pedals I hadn't paid attention to the direction the bike was going. The bike veered over into the grass, and Daddy grabbed the back of the seat.

"I can't do it!" I grumped.

"Give yourself another chance, it takes a while," Daddy said, steering the bike over onto the sidewalk. "Try it again."

It took me a couple of times, but eventually I was able to ride a short distance. The training wheels made the bike lean slightly to one side or the other, and it would start to feel like I was falling, which made me nervous.

A couple of kids came down the middle of the road, a boy on a bike, another boy on a skate board, and two girls using roller skates. They all looked at me as they went by. I felt embarrassed, because they all looked older, and none of them had training wheels or pads on.

"Let's go inside now," I said quickly.

"Why?" Daddy asked.

"Well, those kids...they were staring," I felt my face get red.

"Who cares?" Daddy shrugged, "You're learning how to ride a bike, that's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"Okay," I got onto the seat again, "I'll try it one more time." I put my feet on the pedals and pushed hard. All of a sudden, I was balancing upright and going fast.

"Good job, Charlie!" I heard Daddy call out behind me.

I went past the neighbor's house, and then past Macy's house, and then past the house on the other side of hers.

"I—I don't know how to stop!" I turned my head back to call out, and that made the bike turn to the side. I started to go down the little ramp in someone's driveway, that went out into the street. I panicked, because I knew I probably wasn't supposed to go into the street at all, and then the handlebars jerked to the side, and I felt myself falling over, and I screamed. I landed on my hip and side, throwing my arm out to try and catch myself. My legs were tangled in the bike.

I heard footsteps running, and then Daddy and Uncle Sam were there in front of me.

"Are you okay, Charlie?" Daddy asked anxiously.

I looked up at him and burst into tears.


	85. Chapter 85

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad that I'm not able to update as often I as I used to, so thanks for hanging in there with me. I'm doing somewhat better with the anxiety, but I'm still not able to drive. I know it's going to just take time! 
> 
> CONTENT WARNING: Charlie's extra-curricular Kindle activites get found out, she gets paddled in this chapter.  
> ************

My hand and hip were throbbing.

"Oh, come here," Daddy bent down and held his hands out. Uncle Sam lifted the bike and Daddy helped me get up. He swung me up onto his hip and kissed the side of my head. "You're okay," he said comfortingly.

"My h-hand-" I sniffled, holding my hand out. The lower half of it was scraped and red.

"We'll get that cleaned up when we get inside," Daddy told me, starting to walk up the sidewalk.

Uncle Sam carried the bike back to the house. As we walked up to the porch, a truck pulled up to the curb.

"Bobby's here," Grandpa John said, walking down the stairs. "You okay, darlin'?" he asked me.

"She'll be fine," Daddy said. He set me down when we got into the living room and took off the helmet and unzipped my coat, and then pulled it off. He had to undo the elbow pads, and I grumbled about it.

"But your elbow isn't hurt, right?" Daddy looked at me, "See, they work. Let's go to the bathroom and fix your hand up."

I followed him down the hall, and he got some bandages out of the little closet as I washed my hands.

"Sit down," he said, and I sat on the closed toilet seat. He spread some ointment on my hand and then put a couple of band-aids on the larger scraped areas. "Anything else hurting?" he asked.

"My hip," I said.

"Here, stand up and let me take a look," he said. I stood up and undid my jeans, and pulled them down on the side. There was a dark red mark on my hip.

Uncle Sam came to the bathroom door. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"What do you think, Sammy, should we put some ice on that?" Daddy gestured to my hip.

Uncle Sam leaned down and looked at it, and touched the skin gently. "Yeah, it might bruise, ice would be good for a little while," he looked at me and smiled, "Falling when you're learning how to ride a bike is like a rite of passage for kids," he said, "Your Dad and I both fell plenty of times when we were learning."

"Speak for yourself, Sam, I had good balance," Daddy retorted. I buttoned my jeans back up, and we walked out to the living room.

I sat down next to Daddy on the sofa and looked at him. "I was scared, I realized I don't know how to stop the bike, an' then I was going out into the street!"

Daddy chuckled, "Yeah, I forgot to explain how you stop the bike, you pedal backwards, and it makes the bike brake. It's okay, it was a learning experience, right?"

Uncle Sam brought in a baggie with ice and I put in on my hip. Grandpa John and Uncle Bobby came into the living room from outside. Uncle Bobby had a bag with presents in it. He had brought us food like fancy chocolates and imported cheeses and crackers.

Uncle Sam said that the ham was ready, so we sat down to eat an early Christmas dinner. There was also baked potatoes, a big salad, and green beans. For dessert we had Christmas cookies and some of the chocolates that Uncle Bobby had brought. Grandpa John opened the bottle of whiskey too, and all of them had a glass.

I leaned over to Daddy as he tasted it. "It's very smoky, different than what I'm used to," he said.

"Can I try?"I asked him.

"No, it's very strong," Daddy said, "and little girls shouldn't be drinking alcohol."

"Mommy always let me try her wine on holidays!" I protested.

Daddy rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

"What does that mean?" I asked with confusion.

Daddy shook his head. "Never mind. You are not to touch any alcohol until you're of age, and that's my rule," his voice was stern.

I frowned at my lap.

"Do you understand?" Daddy asked me.

"Yeees!" I said with annoyance.

Daddy reached over and took my chin in his hand, making me look at him. "You want to lose the attitude?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

I felt myself start to blush. "Okay," I muttered, trying to pull my chin out of his hand.

"What was that?" his voice was stern again.

I peered at him through my bangs. "Yes, Daddy," I said obediently, and he let me go.

"You finished eating?" he asked me.

"Yeah," I started to get up and leave the room.

Uncle Sam put his hand on my arm. "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked.

I turned to look at him. "What?"

Uncle Sam gestured to the table. "Whose job is it to clear the table after meals?" he asked pointedly.

I sighed with annoyance. "Can't you do it yourself today?"

Daddy got up out of his chair suddenly and took my wrist, pulling me into the kitchen. He bent down and looked at me sternly. "I don't know what's gotten into you all of a sudden, but it's going to stop," he said in a harsh whisper.

"What?" I snapped, trying to pull away from him.

"You really want to end Christmas with a spanking, little girl?" his green eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and I felt myself blushing.

"No," I said sullenly.

"Then cool it," he said, "This is the last time I'm going to talk to you about it," he straightened up, "Get out there and clear the table, and I don't want to hear any more attitude from you. Got it?"

"Yes, Daddy," I agreed. He let me go, and followed me out to the dining room. I took my plate and utensils to the sink, and then walked back to the table. "Are you done?" I asked Daddy, and he nodded. I picked up his plate and turned to take it to the kitchen. Normally we ate in the kitchen, so I didn't have that far to walk when clearing the table. Walking back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen so many times was annoying, but I didn't say anything.

The men were still sitting around with their glasses of whiskey when I came out with a damp dishcloth to wipe the table off.

"One of us will get that later, you go on," Grandpa John said to me.

I turned to look at Daddy, and he nodded. "That's fine," he agreed.

I went to the living room and gathered some of my new stuff from under the tree. I had gotten some more Hello Kitty figurines, and I took them upstairs to put on the shelf with my others. I spent some time re-arranging them, and then I laid down on my bed and played my 3DS for a while.

Daddy poked his head in the door. "There you are," he said, "I wondered where you'd gotten to. How's your hip?" he came into the room and walked over to the bed.

I rolled over on my back. "It's okay now," I told him.

"We're going to watch a Christmas movie, want to come watch with us?" he asked. "Uncle Bobby brought some fancy popcorn."

"Okay," I turned the game off and got off the bed. I took Daddy's hand as we walked down the stairs.

We watched a movie about a little blonde boy who wanted a gun for Christmas. Some of it was silly, but some of it was boring. Everyone else laughed a lot at some parts, that I didn't get.

I woke up when Daddy was laying me in bed. I sat up and rubbed my face.

"You want your nightgown?" he asked, and I nodded.

I pulled my shirt and pants off, and he helped me put the nightgown on, and then I crawled under the covers. I felt like I was barely awake.

Daddy leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Did you have a good Christmas?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I did," I murmured, "Thank you for everything, Daddy."

He stroked my hair back from my face. "Thank you, Charlie. This was a special day for me too. I love you, baby girl," he kissed the top of my head.

"Love you too, Daddy," I mumbled, and then I fell asleep.

The next day, I practiced riding my bike again. Daddy and Uncle Sam stood outside and watched, calling encouragement to me. I started to get the hang of balancing it, and I could ride it down the sidewalk without falling to one side or the other, for a long distance.

I stopped further up the street, where there were a bunch of kids hanging out on a large lawn in front of a big wide house. The two girls that I had seen roller-skating yesterday were there.

"I like your bike," one of them called shyly.

"Thanks," I said, "I just got it for Christmas."

"Only babies use training wheels," a boy with close-cut dark hair scoffed.

"Shut up, Chance," the other girl said. She was taller and looked a little older. "Only babies wear pull-ups at night."

"Shut UP!" Chance yelled, as some of the other kids snickered. Chance's face got red and he glared at everyone.

The girl who had said she liked my bike asked, "You wanna hang out with us?"

"Uh, okay...lemme go ask my Daddy," I said. I turned and pointed down the street. "I live that way, I'll take my bike back, and come back here, okay?"

She smiled at me. "Okay!"

I rode my bike back to our house and stopped in front. "There's a bunch of kids up the street, and a girl asked if I wanted to hang out. Can I?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "What's her name?"

"Um, I dunno, she didn't tell me."

Daddy hesitated. "Yes, you can hang out in her yard, but I don't want you going in anyone's house until you've actually met these kids and know their names. And I'd like to meet their parents too."

"Okay, Daddy," I got off the bike and put the kick-stand down. "Can you take my helmet and all inside?" I pulled off the pads and helmet, and Uncle Sam took them.

"And no crossing the street either," Daddy called as I started to walk back up the sidewalk.

"Okay," I called back.

The girl came up to me as I walked up to the yard that all the kids were standing in. "Hey, I'm Addison, an' that's my sister, Aubrey," she turned and pointed at the taller girl, "What's your name?"

"Uh, Charlie," I said.

"Charlie is a boys' name!" Chance jeered.

A blonde boy shoved his shoulder. "And Chance is a dork's name!"

A bunch of the kids laughed, and Chance spun around and swung at the blonde boy. "Shut up, jerk!"

Addison pointed at the house next to the one we were standing in front of. "That's our house. Franny lives in this house, an' her parents don't mind that we all hang out here."

Franny was a shorter girl with long brown hair. She was standing by the porch, talking to a couple of other kids.

"So, do we wanna play tag, or what?" another boy asked. He had short brown hair and was wearing a big puffy coat.

"I thought we were gonna play hide-n-seek," someone else said. The kids milled around, talking, and then they started to walk.

"Hey, what're we doin'?" Addison called, trotting after her sister. I hurried up so I could fall into step next to her.

"We're going over to Meadowview Park," Aubrey said over her shoulder. Meadowview Park was a couple of blocks away, I had walked there with Daddy and Uncle Sam a couple of times before Christmas.

"Oh, uh, I, I don't think I can," I said with hesitation.

"Why not?" Addison asked.

"I, uh, I hafta ask if I can go places."

Addison tossed her head. "It's just up the street a ways, all the parents let their kids go there."

"Yeah, but..." I sighed, remembering the rule that Daddy had said about always asking him if I could go somewhere. And he had also just told me to hang out in the yard and not cross the street.

"So, what school do you go to? I go to Longfellow Elementary."

"I'm, um, home-schooled." I told her.

"Oh...is it fun? I mean, I wouldn't wanna be home-schooled by my mom, she'd drive me crazy!" Addison rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I like it," I said. I looked around as the kids stopped and then started to cross a street. "Listen, I—I can't go with you, I'm not allowed to cross the street either," I said.

Addison looked at me. "You're not?"

I blushed. "Well, I...we just moved here, an' I don't know the neighborhood or anything, y'know?"

"Well, okay...bye!" Addison ran across the street with the rest of the kids.

I turned and started to walk back the way I came. I don't know what happened, but suddenly I looked around and realized that I didn't know where I was. Somehow I had made a wrong turn, and none of the houses looked familiar. I turned around again and started to walk the other way, feeling nervous. Where was our house? I could barely even remember what it looked like.

I thought I heard someone calling me, and I started to run. I saw Uncle Sam coming up a side street that I hadn't even noticed, his long legs striding quickly towards me. "Charlie!" he called.

I ran up to him and burst into tears. "I—I got lost, Uncle Sam!" I threw my arms around his waist and sobbed.

"What happened?" he asked, looking down at me.

"I—I was talkin' to those kids, an' they all started to walk, an' said they were goin' to the park. I said I couldn't go, 'an I wasn't allowed to cross the street. They left, and I turned around to come back, but I guess I went the wrong way. I was getting scared, Uncle Sam!"

He swung me up onto his hip. "It's okay, Charlie," he said comfortingly, "We would have found you. I'm proud of you that you didn't go with the kids, and you didn't cross the street like we told you."

He walked us back to the house, and I saw Daddy coming up the sidewalk from the other direction. He looked worried, but then when he saw us, he looked relieved.

"Charlie, where were you?" he asked as we walked inside.

Uncle Sam set me down.

"I went outside to call you in for dinner, and all the kids were gone," Daddy said tightly, folding his arms, "Where the hell did you go?"

I looked up at him. "The kids were talking about playing a game an' then they started to walk, an' then one of them said they were going to the park. I said I couldn't go 'cause I wasn't allowed, an' I turned around to come back, but I got lost."

"You turned around and came back?" Daddy asked.

"Yeah, they got to a street an' stopped an' I said I couldn't cross the street either, an' I hadda go back. An' they just kept going."

Daddy exhaled. "Well, good for you."

"Are you—are you mad at me?" I asked him.

"Charlie followed the rules," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy stepped over and ruffled my hair. "Good job, Charlie," he said, relaxing, "Go wash your hands and come to the table."

When we were eating, I told them about the kids. "Addison asked me what school I go to. It seems like people look at me funny when I say I'm home-schooled. Why?"

Daddy and Uncle Sam glanced at each other. "It's not something that people think about, and home-schooling used to be something that was on the fringes. It's more popular now, though," Uncle Sam explained.

"What do I say if they ask why?"

"They shouldn't be asking why, that's rude," Grandpa John commented.

"Yeah, but you know how kids are, they'll ask anything," Daddy said, "Just tell them you were sick for a while and couldn't go to school, and leave it at that."

"Missouri said that you shouldn't tell people any more than they need to know," I told them.

"Missouri is a wise woman," Grandpa John said.

"Agreed," Daddy nodded.

The next day was Monday, and Daddy had to go back to work. I spent the day doing schoolwork with Uncle Sam. We looked up all the different countries that the fruit was from, that Castiel had brought him for Christmas. He said that for Social Studies we could learn about each country for the next couple of weeks. When I was finished with my work I went upstairs to my room to play with my new Hello Kitty figurines for a while.

"Charlie!" Daddy called, "Get down here!"

I hadn't heard him come in. I ran downstairs to the living room.

"Daddy!" I ran to him and hugged him. He gave me a loose hug, and then took my arms and held me away from him.

"You got anything you want to tell us?" he asked.

"Uh...no?" I noticed that Uncle Sam was standing there with his laptop open, and he looked angry.

Daddy let me go, and turned to Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam said to me, "I got a notice from the Online Books website today, Charlie. There's an after holiday sale going on, and they gave me a list of things they thought I'd be interested in, since I bought some things a couple of weeks ago."

I looked at him. "Oh...yeah...I, uh, I got some books an' stuff on your account."

"How?" Uncle Sam put his hand on his hip.

"Um, when I was reading on my Kindle, your shopping basket thing popped up and it was open, so I picked out a couple things."

Uncle Sam leaned down and looked at the screen. "Uh huh, three books, and three games," he looked at me again, raising his eyebrows.

"Did you ask if you could buy this stuff?" Daddy asked, and his voice was his deeper, serious voice.

"Uh, no, but—I didn't think I'd have to!"

"What?" Uncle Sam asked, "Why not?"

"Well, it's my Kindle."

Daddy and Uncle Sam looked at each other, and they looked confused. "What does that have to do with anything?" Daddy asked.

"Well, Uncle Sam said that I couldn't play on his laptop, or put stuff on the tablet. But the Kindle's mine, y'know, so I can do whatever I want with it...right?" I felt uncertain now. Why were they acting mad?

"No, Charlie, no," Uncle Sam shook his head, and closed his eyes for a moment, "What's the rule?"

I squirmed. "Which one?"

"The one about downloading things."

"Oh, I, uh, I can't, unless you okay it first."

"And did you okay it with me?"

I squirmed again. "No, but...it was from the Online Books website, it wasn't a site you don't know! And it was your shopping cart thingy!"

"Charlie. That is not the point. Once again, you went behind my back, and you downloaded things from the computer, without my knowledge, or my permission, and you used my account, which is attached to my credit card, to do it."

"But- but they were all free! I made sure it didn't cost anything! Well, 'cept for the one game that was a penny. An' I can give you a penny, Uncle Sam."

He shook his head again. "Once again, that's not the point, young lady."

"Why didn't you ask?" Daddy asked me.

"I, uh, I dunno, I just...'cause it was my Kindle."

"Why didn't you tell us about it, then? Why have you been hiding it?"

"I-I wasn't hiding it!" I protested.

"Oh, you weren't? How come none of us knew about this?" Daddy raised his eyebrows.

I felt myself start to blush. "I—I just didn't say anything-"

"Go get your Kindle," Uncle Sam said in a stern voice.

"Why?"

He took a step towards me. "Because I told you to, young lady!"

He looked even angrier, and I hurried up the stairs to my room, and then grabbed the Kindle off of my night stand. I ran back downstairs, and handed it to Uncle Sam. I watched as he turned in on and then tapped the screen.

He looked up at me. "Where are the games?"

"Uh, what?" I tried to stall.

"The games, Charlie. The ones that you bought. I don't see them on here," Uncle Sam held the device out to me.

"Oh, uh-" I took it from him, and stood there staring at the screen. I was going to get found out now!

"Charlie," Daddy said.

I tapped the screen and pulled up the page that had my "secret folder" on it.

Daddy leaned over and looked at the screen. "What's that?" he took the Kindle from me, and read aloud, "Secret Folder". He looked up at Uncle Sam, and handed him the Kindle.

Uncle Sam took it, and tapped the screen. "What's the password, Charlie?" he asked.

"Uh- hellokitty4," I shifted and stared at my feet.

He tapped the screen, and then showed it to Daddy.

"So you were hiding it. You bought these books and games without permission, and then, you created a secret folder to hide the games, so that nobody would know," Daddy said, folding his arms over his chest. He looked angry now. "You've basically been lying to us about this for...how long now?"

Uncle Sam glanced at his laptop. "Says they were downloaded about three weeks ago."

"What do you have to say for yourself, Charlotte Anne?" Daddy's voice was hard.

"I—I wasn't lying, I just didn't- I didn't say anything is all!"

"Which is a lie of omission, and we've talked about that more than once," Uncle Sam said, "And you did lie, when you created a secret folder to hide the games in."

I gulped, and my face got red. "But—but this isn't Uncle Sam's laptop, or the tablet! It's my Kindle, so I shouldn't be in trouble for that!"

"And why not?" Daddy asked.

"Be—because it's my Kindle, and I can do what I want with it, it's not like Uncle Sam's laptop that he uses for research!"

"You're missing the point, Charlie," Uncle Sam said, "What were the rules I made, a long time ago. Do you remember?"

"Uh, I gotta ask you to go on your laptop, an' I can't go on the internet unsupervised."

"And did anyone supervise you when you were looking at the website, or buying the games?" Daddy asked.

"No," I toed the floor with my sock, "But the website was already up, and Uncle Sam's account was all signed in!"

"And did you ask permission to go online, or buy the things you did?" Daddy was watching me.

"Uh, no."

"What else did I say?" Uncle Sam asked.

I glanced up at him. His hands were on his hips.

"I, uh...I can't remember."

He shook his head. "I told you, that if you did anything with going online unsupervised, or downloading games without my knowledge, that I would paddle you."

I looked at at him nervously. "But Uncle Sam!" I whined.

"I don't want to hear it, young lady. You're in the wrong here, and you're in trouble."

I felt tears come to my eyes. "But nobody said I couldn't put stuff on my Kindle!"

"You're right, we never talked about that," Daddy said, "But the fact remains that you disobeyed Uncle Sam's rules about downloading things and going online on your own, and you've lied about it."

"Why do you gotta know everything that I do? I only wanted to read some more books an' play some games!" I said hotly.

"Attitude, little girl," Daddy gave me a look.

"And again, that's not the point, Charlie. No, we never made rules for the Kindle. But because it's an electronic device that can access the internet, the same rules still apply as for the tablet. And I think you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have hidden that you bought things," Uncle Sam's voice was reasonable.

I felt myself blushing. I knew he was right. I had hidden the books and games, and I had done it on purpose. I had known in the back of my mind that I probably shouldn't buy anything, that what I was doing was wrong, but I did it anyway.

I got mad instead. "This isn't fair!" I yelled, clenching my fists, "You never said I couldn't-"

Daddy crossed his arms. "All right, you want to play it that way? You want us to make rules for everything that you have? Uncle Sam and I can sit down and makes rules for every single electronic device, and your toys, and your chores, and everything, and then every time you break a rule you'll be held accountable. Is that what you want?"

"No," I said stubbornly.

"You're a smart girl, and you should know better than to do what you did. Once again, you know the rules, and you chose to flaunt them, and now you're in trouble for it. You need to face up to the consequences of your actions," Daddy said sternly.

"Go to your room," Uncle Sam said.

My stomach did a nervous flip. "Wh-why?"

"You know why. I'll be up after I talk to your Dad."

"But—Uncle Saaammm-" I whined.

"You want to wait until bedtime for your spanking?" he asked.

I gulped. The idea of having a spanking looming over my head all night was not something I wanted to deal with. "Uh, no," I said weakly.

"Then go," Uncle Sam said.

I sighed heavily, and turned to trudge up to my room.

I sat on my bed and crossed my legs, feeling more anxious.

In a few minutes, there was a knock on the door, and I called, "C-come in," nervously.

Uncle Sam walked into the room, holding the paddle in his right hand. He came over to the bed and stood there looking down at me.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Sam," I said, hoping that he would go easier on me if I apologized right away.

"I'm disappointed in you, Charlie," he said, "We've talked about all of this more than once, and you keep disobeying me."

That hurt my feelings when he said that. I hated feeling like he and Daddy were upset with me or disappointed. I looked down at my hands in my lap and squirmed.

"This is the last time I want to have to punish you for this. If it happens again, we will get really strict about things, and you'll have a lot more rules, and get into trouble a lot quicker. So you think about that the next time you're tempted to go online or buy something," Uncle Sam sat down on the edge of the bed and set the paddle next to him.

He turned towards me. "Come here," he said, and reached for me.

I gulped, and moved over next to him, and he pulled me down over his lap.

I gave a little squeal when he started to pull my pants down. "Uncle Sam, what're you doing?"

He pulled them down to my knees, and then pulled my panties down too. My body was on the bed, and I pushed up with my arms and turned to look at him.

"Lying is a bare butt spanking, remember?" he asked. He put his arm over my back and pushed me down on the bed, and I grabbed onto the comforter.

"Oww!" I cried out after the first swat landed. It stung so much more, I burst into tears and started to wiggle and squirm to try and get away from Uncle Sam's big hand. He pulled me closer to him and held me firmly. My legs were dangling off his lap, and as I kicked I felt my pants and panties falling off. Then I realized I could kick harder, because my pants weren't keeping my legs trapped. I kicked more, and Uncle Sam said sternly, "Charlie, stop kicking."

I bent my leg and moved my foot up so that it was in front of my bottom, trying to block him.

"No, young lady, put your foot down," he said in a harder voice, "You do that again and I'm adding more swats with the paddle."

I lowered my foot and whimpered as his hand continued to pepper my butt with hard smacks. Then he stopped for a moment and leaned over.

I turned my head and saw him pick up the paddle. "M'sorry, Uncle Sam, I am," I sobbed, "Please..."

"Sorry that you misbehaved, or sorry that you got caught, and you're in trouble?" he asked, "you need to learn from your mistakes, so that you don't get yourself into more trouble. Because you're going to find yourself back over my knee, or your dad's knee, every single time you break rules like this."

I shrieked and then wailed as the paddle swatted me. My bottom was already on fire, and all I could concentrate on was the sting each time the paddle fell.

"You will not go online unsupervised any more, or buy things or download things without permission. And you will not lie or hide things from us. Is that clear?"

"Y—y—yes, Uncle S-sam," I heaved out.

He landed a couple more swats and I wailed again. Then he lifted me up off his lap and held me like a baby, my butt drooping down between his arms. I sobbed into his chest and clutched at his flannel.

"M' s-sorry I was b-bad," I sobbed, "Are you s-still d-dis—appointed in me?"

"You're not bad, Charlie, you misbehaved and broke rules, and you've been punished. You do the right thing from now on, and I won't be disappointed any more. I know you're a good girl." Uncle Sam leaned down and kissed my forehead.

I put my arms around him. "I love you, Uncle Sam."

"I love you too, Charlie," he said, squeezing me tightly.

He held me until I was calm, and then patted my back. "I've got to go downstairs and check on dinner. Wash your face and then come down."

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said. He set me on the floor and left the room, and I put my panties and jeans back on, easing them up over my sore rear. I washed my face and hands and then went downstairs.

Daddy was in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. I went up to him and stood in front of him. "I'm sorry," I said, staring at the floor.

Daddy set his mug on the counter, and then put his finger under my chin and made me look at him.

"I hope that this is the last time we have to deal with this. We still have to talk about the rest of your punishment."

"Uh, the—the rest?" I asked uneasily. Was he going to spank me too?

"Yes, you're losing your Kindle and 3DS for two weeks, and Sam is going to put parental controls on them. And he's going to monitor you using the tablet as well."

"Two weeks!" I complained, "My 3DS too?"

"Well, it has access to the internet too, doesn't it? I want to check it over and make sure you can't go online whenever you want," Uncle Sam said.

"That's not fair!" I stomped my foot.

"I don't want to hear it," Daddy said sternly, "You should count yourself lucky that you're not getting a spanking from me too. I'm not happy about the sneaking and the lying, Charlie."

"I said I was sorry!" I felt my face getting red.

"Yes, you did. Now show me that you mean it by changing how you behave."

"Okayokay!" I started to turn, to stomp out of the room.

Daddy grabbed my chin. "Lose the attitude, or you will be getting a spanking from me tonight."

Uncle Sam set a stack of dishes on the table. "Set the table, Charlie," he said.

Daddy let go of me and I stepped over to the table and began to lay the plates and get out the utensils.

Grandpa John came in just as we were sitting down. He had a couple of shopping bags, and he went to put them in his room.

He sat down at the table and looked around at us. "I got some interesting books on folklore at that new bookstore, Sam, you should take a look. So, what's been going on here?"

"Charlie got into some trouble, she's not allowed to have her Kindle or 3DS for two weeks," Daddy told him.

Grandpa John raised his eyebrow. "Oh? What happened?"

"She bought some books and games for her Kindle without asking, and then hid that she bought them," Uncle Sam said.

I stared at the table, blushing.

"Well, that's not good," Grandpa John said.

"And that's the last time we're going to have any issues with the computer, Charlie?" Daddy looked at me.

"Uh...yes, Daddy," I said quietly, "Can I be done?"

"All right," he said.

"Go get your 3DS," Uncle Sam told me.

I slid off my chair and went upstairs to get them, and when I brought them into the kitchen, he said, "Leave it on the desk."

I put it on the desk where I did my school work- my Kindle was already there- and then went back into the kitchen to help with the dishes, since that was one of my chores. Daddy and I cleared the table and he loaded the dishwasher.

When he was finished, I pulled on his arm. "Can I sit with you, Daddy?"

"Sure, what's up?" he asked.

"I just...miss you when you're at work."

He ruffled my hair. "Let me get another cup of coffee and we can sit, okay?"

I climbed onto his lap when he sat down on the sofa, and he put his arm around me.

"Can we do something this weekend?" I asked.

"Sure, what do you want to do?"

I leaned against Daddy. "I dunno."

"Well, it's New Year's Eve this weekend, maybe we can find some kind of celebration to go to." Daddy said.

I snuggled with him until I started to fall asleep, and then he carried my upstairs to my room.


	86. Chapter 86

I finished painting and sat up. "Done," I put the cap on the bottle of nail polish.

Addison held her hand up in front of her face. "You're good at that," she said admiringly.

"Thanks," I said.

The door opened and Aubrey came in with her hands full of stuff. She had a bag of potato chips, a package of gummy bears, and three cans of soda. She set everything on the bed and opened one of the Cokes.

"Go ahead," she said to me, "I brought you a soda too."

"Oh, you're allowed to have soda?" I asked.

Aubrey laughed. "Allowed? Yeah, of course. Why, are you not allowed?"

"Well, I, uh, my Uncle Sam wants me to eat healthy, and we don't have lots of junk food and stuff, and I have to ask if I can have a snack."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's not like that here. We eat what we want, when we want. Parents shouldn't be limiting your food y'know?" she tossed her head.

Aubrey was 11, and she acted like she knew everything. She had lots of opinions about everything and wasn't afraid to say them.

Daddy had worked on Aubrey's Daddy's car, and they had introduced themselves and talked, and Daddy felt comfortable with letting me go to Addison's house now.

Addison and Aubrey each had their own room, filled with toys and games and stuff. Their mom seemed nice, but like she was always busy and running around trying to do everything.

"Want Charlie to paint your nails, Aub?" Addison asked.

"No thanks. Hey Charlie, want to do make-up?" Aubrey asked.

"Um, what do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, let's do a make-over!" Addison laughed and clapped her hands.

"I'll do your make-up, okay? I'm getting really good at it," Aubrey said with confidence.

"Well, uh, I guess," I said hesitantly.

Aubrey left the room and was back in a couple of minutes with a little quilted bag. She set it down and unzipped it, and started to take things out.

"Wow, you have a lot of stuff," I commented, looking into the bag.

"Yeah, I buy make-up every week just about, when I get my allowance. Sit here," Aubrey patted the end of the bed.

I sat down and crossed my legs. "You get an allowance?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Addison asked.

"No," I said shortly.

Aubrey pulled a chair over and sat down. She leaned forward and looked at my face. "I think...I want to try this purple eye shadow, it'll really bring out the green of your eyes."

Addison stood next to Aubrey and made comments as Aubrey applied the makeup to my face. I had trouble when she was putting eyeliner on me, because it felt like she was trying to poke my eye, and then when she tried to put mascara on, I let out a little shriek because she did poke my eye.

"Don't rub!" she exclaimed, as I put my hand up, "You'll wreck your eye shadow!"

"It feels weird, and my eye is tearing! I gotta rub it!" I said, and I rubbed.

Addison handed me a tissue, and I wiped my eye.

"Okay, I'll just do that eye again," Aubrey said. She re-applied the eye shadow, swept blush onto my cheeks with a big puffy brush, and then put bright red lipstick on me.

There was a knock on the door, and Addison's mom poked her head in. "Charlie, your Dad just called, and he wants you to go home for dinner. Oh, are you girls doing make-up?"

"Well, duh, Mom," Aubrey said in a snotty tone, rolling her eyes.

"Looks good," her mom said, acting like Aubrey hadn't been rude. She closed the door.

I started to get off the bed.

"Where are you going?" Addison asked.

"I gotta go home now," I said.

"You don't have to leave right away," Addison said.

I gave her a look. "Yeah I do. When Daddy tells me to do something, I gotta do it. Isn't it like that with your parents?"

The girls looked at each other and laughed. "Yeah kinda...when we have to do something, we just...take our own sweet time doing it," Aubrey said with a smirk, "If we have to clean, then we take a really long time getting out the vacuum or whatever, and eventually Mom just gets frustrated and does it herself."

"I don't think my Daddy would like that," I told her, "So I gotta go. Thanks for everything."

"Okay, seeya!" Addison called as I left the room.

I skipped up the sidewalk to our house and went in the front door. Daddy came into the living room from the kitchen. "There you a- what is on your face?" he stared at me with a confused look.

I started to blush. "We did nails, and Aubrey did a make-over on me," I held my hand up to show him my painted fingernails.

"I'll say she did, that kid's got a heavy hand," Daddy retorted.

Uncle Sam came in behind Dean, and raised his eyebrows when he saw me. "Well. That's...a different look," he said, chuckling.

Grandpa John came up the hall from his room. "There she is!" he said, like always, and I turned to him. "Oh-" he said with surprise when he saw my face.

I glared up at all of them. "What's the matter, haven't you ever seen make-up before?"

"Yes, honey, but your friend—she used a lot on you-" Uncle Sam explained.

I stomped my foot. "She was just trying it, y'know!"

"Okay, you don't have to get angry, Charlie," Daddy came over to me and pulled to into his arms for a hug, "We're not used to seeing you like this—with make-up on, it's different, and- well, it makes me realize that there's probably going to be a day when you want to start wearing make-up," he let me go, "I just hope that that day isn't too soon. I want you to stay my little girl for as long as possible."

"I'm not little," I huffed, "I'm almost 9!"

Daddy laughed. "All right, go wash that stuff off your face and then come and set the table."

I started to go upstairs to the bathroom, and thought I heard Daddy saying, "Should we make a rule about make-up?"

While we ate, I told them about Addison and Aubrey's house. "They each have their own room, Aubrey's is decorated with horses, and Addison's is decorated with kittens and puppies. They both have a little t.v. in their rooms, and Aubrey has a desk and a stereo and her own laptop! And Addison has this giant house for her Barbie dolls with a camper-van thingy too, and like a hundred dolls and clothes for all of them!"

"A hundred, huh?" Uncle Sam smiled.

"Well, I don't know...she has a lot! And oh..." I looked down at my plate, "they both have a 3DS with this new game, can I—can I have my 3DS so I can take it to their house and play with them?"

I looked up at Daddy, hoping that I was looking pitiful.

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "No, Charlie, you can't."

"But why not?" I frowned.

"Why did it get taken away?" Uncle Sam asked.

I felt my face get a little red. "Because I ordered stuff online without asking an' went online in secret."

"Right, and you're being punished right now. You'll get it back when two weeks is up," Uncle Sam said reasonably.

"But- my 3DS didn't have anything to do with the Kindle, why'd it get taken away too?"

"Because it did," Daddy said firmly.

"It's not fair!" I threw my fork down and crossed my arms.

"Charlie!" Daddy scolded, frowning at me, "Do you want to leave the table?"

"Fine! I'm not hungry anyways!" I started to get out of my chair.

Uncle Sam put his hand out. "Sit back down and eat your dinner."

"I said I'm not hungry!" I got up, and ran up to my room, throwing myself down on the bed and pouting. My tummy was hurting a little bit.

Several minutes later there was a knock on the door and Daddy came in. He walked over and stood next to the bed. "I was ready for after-dinner snuggles, and you weren't there," he said.

"Oh," I sat up, and looked at him.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled me onto his lap. "What's going on, hm?" he asked, "You got upset awfully quick."

"I dunno," I said, "Their house is just so different...and they do things different too."

Daddy rested his chin on my head. "Yeah, everyone is different."

I looked up at him. "Addison and her sister get an allowance. Can I start getting one too?"

Daddy chuckled. "Hmm, I'll have to think about that one...I'll let you know," he smoothed my hair back from my face, "How are you doing on the bike? Think you're ready to try it without the training wheels?"

"Maybe," I said nervously, "I'll be scared to try it."

"Well, if you try it and you have a lot of trouble we can always put them back on."

"Can we go downstairs? That new cooking contest show comes on tonight," I hugged Daddy.

"All right," he agreed, and I got off of his lap.

We went downstairs and watched the show together. Then Daddy went to take a shower, and Uncle Sam went to Grandpa John's room to talk about some old books. I was getting hungry, so I got out an apple and some crackers and took them up to my room. I sat in front of my shelf and played with my Hello Kitty figurines while I ate my snack.

There was a knock on the door, and Uncle Sam leaned in. "Charlie, tomorrow I want to- what are you doing?" he came over to me and looked down at me.

"I—I got hungry, so I was havin' a snack."

"Well, you should have eaten when it was dinner time."

"But I wasn't hungry then, I'm hungry now!" I protested.

"Did you ask?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

"Why do I gotta ask all the time!" I huffed.

"Excuse me?" Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips, "Because you do. And you are not allowed to have food in your room either."

Daddy came to the door and looked at Uncle Sam and then me. "What's going on? Charlie, why do you have food?"

"'Cause I got hungry, is that a crime?" I snapped.

Uncle Sam and Daddy looked at each other. "Charlie, I don't want you to have food in your room," Daddy told me.

"That's what I said," Uncle Sam chimed in.

"I- I didn't know that! You never made a rule about it!" I stood up and stomped my foot.

"Well, now there is. And I've had enough of the foot stomping tonight, little girl," Daddy said sternly.

"And she has to ask to get a snack," Uncle Sam added.

"How come?" I stomped my foot again and crossed my arms.

"All right, bedtime for you," Daddy said.

"What? Why?" I exclaimed.

"Because I've had enough. Get ready for bed, now," Daddy said firmly.

I stared at him.

He snapped his fingers and said, "Charlie, NOW," When I still didn't move he said, "You want to be going to bed with a sore butt? Because that's where you're headed," he stepped towards me, and I ran out of the room to the bathroom.

Daddy was the last one to give me a hug and a kiss. He let me go and stood up. "You're throwing around an awful lot of attitude these days, Charlie," he said seriously, "You need to watch it," he pulled the covers up and tucked them around my shoulders, "You hear me?"

"Yeeess," I said.

"Excuse me?" his voice got stern.

"Okay, Daddy." I rolled onto my side, and he left the room.

The next afternoon, I rode my bike with Addison. She had on her roller skates and skated next to me as I went up and down the sidewalk a few times.

"Let's go in and get somethin' to eat, I'm hungry," she said.

"Okay," I got off my bike and pulled my pads off, and then took off the helmet. I followed her into the kitchen.

Aubrey was standing in front of the microwave, watching a bag of popcorn. "Hey Addi, there's a new episode of 'Love and High School' on," she said.

"I'll watch it later," Addison walked over to a drawer and opened it, taking out a couple of chocolate bars and a bag of Cheetos. Then she got 2 cans of soda out of the refrigerator.

Their mom was standing at the stove, stirring a pot. "Don't eat too much," she said over her shoulder.

"But I'm hungry now," Addison whined.

"I don't want you to spoil your appetite for dinner."

"Who cares? It's probably gross anyway," Aubrey snapped, and I was shocked that she said that. Her mom didn't say anything.

I followed Addison up to her room, and we laid on her bed and ate while she told me about some of her friends at school. Some of the things she told me about sounded kindof mean, but I didn't say anything. After we finished eating, we played with her Barbies. I loved picking out outfits for them to wear and dressing them.

There was a knock on the door, and Addison's mom leaned her head in. "Charlie, your Dad called, it's dinner time for you. Addi, you need to do your homework."

"I will, Mom, leave me alone, gosh," Addison stood up and stomped over to her bed.

"Bye, Addison, see you," I said, "Thanks for the snack."

By the time I had walked home, my tummy was feeling upset. I slumped on the sofa and curled up in a ball.

Daddy came into the room, and then came over to me. "What's wrong?" he asked with concern.

"I don't feel good," I murmured.

He put his hand on my forehead. "You're not warm. Do you have a sore throat?"

I shook my head. "Uh-uh, my tummy hurts."

"Has it been hurting all day?"

"No," I closed my eyes.

I felt Daddy smoothing my hair back from my face. "You just rest here, then," he said gently.

I heard footsteps, and then Grandpa John's voice asked, "Is she okay?"

"Her stomach's bothering her," Daddy told him.

I listened to the sounds of them eating dinner and talking. My stomach started to feel better, and I sat up and reached for the remote. Daddy appeared in the doorway. "You feeling better?"

I nodded, flipping the channels.

"You want to come eat?"

"I'm not hungry," I told him.

When they were finished eating, he came and sat next to me. "Bath for you tonight, Charlie," he said.

"Okay, after I watch this," I curled up next to Daddy and he put his arm around me.

When the show was over, he patted my leg and said, "Okay, time for your bath."

"Wait, I wanna watch the next episode," I said, whining a little bit. It was a half-hour show about how foods were made in factories.

"If you watch this, and then take a bath, it'll be past your bedtime, so no," Daddy leaned over and picked up the remote.

"Stoooop," I whined, trying to grab the remote from him.

He held it up, away from me, and gave me a look. "Charlie, what did I say?" he asked sternly.

"It's just one show!" I argued.

"And I said no," his voice was still stern. He turned the t.v. off, and lean forward to set the remote on the table. I reached out to grab it, and he took my wrist.

"Little girl, I don't know what's going on with you, but it stops now," he pulled me across his lap, and I yelped and tried to push myself up.

"No more sassing or arguing," he said, smacking my bottom once.

"Ow! Dad-dyyy!" I protested.

"No more attitude," his hand fell again.

"Okaaaay!"

"What?" he swatted me once, "What was that?" he swatted me a second time.

"Okay! I mean yes! Yes, Daddy!"

"You gonna quit it with the mouth, and do what you're told without arguing?"

"Yes, Daddy," I said quickly.

He gave me one final swat and let me up. "Let's go upstairs and I'll run your bath," he stood up and held out his hand. I took it and we walked upstairs together.

When they were tucking me into bed that night, I asked, "Can I get some nail polish?"

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "Um, I guess...why do you want some?"

"Cause it's pretty! And fun!" I held my hand up and wiggled my fingers, making my glittery nails sparkle.

"Well, all right. Next time you go to the store, you can get some," Daddy said.

"Do they sell nail polish at grocery stores?" Uncle Sam asked.

"I don't know...I guess you'll have to figure that out," Daddy leaned down and kissed my forehead, "Good night."

"Night," I murmured, rolling over.

I went to the library with Grandpa John and Uncle Sam, and Uncle Sam signed me up for my own library card. He let me get three books out, and I sat and read one while he and Grandpa John looked stuff up.

When we left, Grandpa John said, "I have a surprise for you, Charlie."

He drove us to an ice cream shop, but then when we went inside, he pointed at the rigth side of the store. The wall was lined with bins of all different kinds of candy.

"Are you gonna let me fill up on candy?" I asked gleefully.

"Well, maybe not fill up," Uncle Sam said.

"You can pick what kind of candy you want and how much you want and put it in a bag," Grandpa John told me.

"How many can I pick? Can I get lots? I want gummy bears and caramels and chocolate covered peanuts and oh, look! They also have gummy worms! Can I get them too?" I ran over to the shelves, and they followed me, chuckling.

"No, you're not getting all that," Uncle Sam said.

"Aww...can I get five things?" I looked up at him.

"No, just a couple."

"Four things? Three things?"

"I think three sounds good," Grandpa John said.

"All right, three," Uncle Sam agreed, "But you're not eating everything all at once, you'll get a stomach ache."

"Okay!" I pulled a bag off of the rack. Grandpa John showed me how to scoop the candy into the bag and then take it over to a scale and weigh it. Then you had to write how much it weighed on a sticker and put it on the bag. I picked gummy bears, chocolate covered caramel bits, and little pieces of different flavored taffy.

Grandpa John took them to the counter and paid for them. He handed me the bag as we walked out of the store.

"Thanks, Grandpa John!" I said happily, "Can I have some now?"

"Of course, little one," Grandpa John ruffled my hair and laughed. Uncle Sam rolled his eyes. "Not too much, though."

I ate a handful of gummy bears, and then a couple pieces of taffy.

By the time we got home, the school kids were home, and I ran to Addison's house to hang out with her.

She and her sister were sitting in front of the t.v. watching a show about a group of teenagers in high school who were all dating each other. It seemed kind of boring, but Addison would explain what was going on with all the different characters.

Aubrey made microwave popcorn again, and opened a bag of gummies that were shaped like fruits. I ate some, but my stomach started to feel really yucky.

"Um, I'm gonna go home," I told them, "I don't feel good."

I walked home slowly. Daddy was just pulling up to the curb as I walked up the steps.

"Hey, Charlie," he picked me up, and it made my tummy do a flip.

"My tummy doesn't feel good," I told him, and he put me down.

"I wonder if we should take you to the doctor," he said, "your stomach hasn't been feeling good for the past couple of days."

Uncle Sam came into the living room. "Well, she had some candy earlier."

"Oh, she did?" Daddy raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Dad found a candy store and took us there to buy her some candy."

"Did you save me any?" Daddy tickled the side of my neck.

"Yeah, I didn't eat it all," I rubbed my tongue over my front teeth.

"What are you doing?" Daddy asked, watching me.

"I got popcorn bits stuck in my teeth," I said.

"When did you have popcorn?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Oh, uh, when I go to Addison's house, we have a snack."

"What kind of snack?" Uncle Sam was looking at me.

I ducked my head. "Well, uh, stuff like chips an' soda...an' stuff."

"Hmm, you've been coming home with an upset stomach for the past couple of days and not eating any dinner...how much of this stuff are you eating?" I saw Daddy and Uncle Sam glance at each other.

"Uh, I dunno."

"What are you eating at her house?" Daddy asked, "you had popcorn today, what else?"

"Um, Coke, and, and...some gummy fruits."

"So you're eating junk food and candy at your friend's house," Uncle Sam put his hands on his hips, "and then coming home and not eating a healthy meal," he shook his head.

I looked up at him. "I—I didn't break any rules!"

"You're not in trouble, Charlie, but...we're going to have to have a talk about what you eat at other people's houses."

"But—that's what they gave me!" I protested.

"Yes, but you didn't have to eat it, you could have refused, or only eaten a little bit. Instead, you come home feeling sick. That tells me you're eating a lot of junk," Uncle Sam said, "And it needs to stop."

"That—that's not fair!" I exclaimed, and I ran up to my room. I slammed the door and threw myself down on my bed. They were just being mean, I should be allowed to eat what I want when I go to other people's houses!


	87. Chapter 87

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it's taken me so long to update! I'm doing better with driving, I've managed to drive to a couple of places without falling apart afterwards. So now, I'm getting anxious and insecure about my writing, ARGH! It's like my brain needs something to feel anxious over! So I've been hesitant about publishing...thanks to all of you who have left kudos and reviews. It means a lot, and I'm grateful for all of you! XXXOOO
> 
> ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I laid on my bed pouting for a while, expecting someone to come upstairs and talk to me.

But then Daddy called up the stairs, "Charlie, come downstairs for dinner!"

I got up and opened the door, calling back, "I'm not hungry!"

"Come down to the table anyway," Daddy replied.

"I'm not hungry!" I repeated louder.

"Charlotte Anne, get your butt down here NOW!" Daddy yelled.

I went to the kitchen and stood in the doorway. All three of them turned their heads to look at me.

"We don't slam doors in this house," Grandpa John rumbled, frowning at me.

Daddy was standing by the fridge. He gestured at the table. "Sit."

I plunked into my seat with a huff. "I'm not hungry," I repeated stubbornly.

Daddy got a beer out of the fridge and twisted the lid off, sitting down at the table. "We need to have a talk."

I still felt annoyed. "About what?"

"About how things have been going the past couple of days. I know that going over to someone's house is new and different, but I want to remind you that just because your friends act differently, doesn't mean that things will be different here. We still expect you to act the same way you always do."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

Uncle Sam set a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table and sat down. "Your friends seem to be allowed to eat a lot of junk food, and we don't—agree with that," he explained, "But you need to realize that just because they do things differently, that it doesn't mean that their way is the right way. Every family does things differently."

"And I don't want to hear any more of this 'it's not fair' if we tell you not to do something that your friends do. I have my reasons for the rules that I make for you, and it doesn't have to be fair," Daddy said, giving me a serious look.

"I'm going to make a rule that you're not allowed to have soda at people's houses, unless you ask one of us first. I think part of the reason you've been so mouthy lately is because of the extra sugar and caffeine," Uncle Sam said.

"But what if that's what they give me?"

"Then you say, 'No thank you, could I please have water?' and leave it at that," Uncle Sam told me, "And I don't want you eating candy either. And if they offer you junk food like potato chips you only eat a little bit."

I crossed my arms and stared at the table. "So I can't eat anything?"

"I didn't say that, I said you can eat things like chips, but a reasonable amount, not so much that you end up feeling sick. Understand?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Parents shouldn't be limiting their kid's food!" I exclaimed hotly.

Daddy choked on a laugh. "Where'd you hear that?" he asked, "Parents have every right to limit their kid's food."

"That's not f-" I started, and then stopped when Daddy cleared his throat.

"Eat some dinner," Uncle Sam pushed a platter of meat towards me.

"What is that?" I asked.

"It's meatloaf," Daddy said, serving a slice onto my plate, "Do you want some gravy?"

"No. It looks gross."

"Young lady, that is rude! You're going to eat-" Grandpa John started, and I interrupted him.

"I don't gotta eat it if I don't want!" I shoved the plate, and it slid and bumped Grandpa John's mug and spilled some coffee on the table.

Uncle Sam said, "Charlie!" and Daddy said, "All right, go to your room. No, you're done, go get ready for bed."

"FINE!" I shoved my chair back and stomped up to my room. I changed into my Hello Kitty nightgown, throwing my clothes on the floor, and then went to the bathroom.

When I opened the door, Daddy was standing there with his arms crossed.

"What?" I snapped.

"You ready for bed? Teeth brushed and everything?"

"Yeeess," I tried to walk around him, but he caught my arm and pulled me back into the bathroom.

"What's this?" he pointed at the sink.

I looked up at him, confused.

He pulled my toothbrush out of the holder. "Your toothbrush is dry, Charlie. I noticed it the other night when I ran your bath. It was dry as a bone then, and it's still dry. Know what that means? It means that you haven't been brushing. Why have you not been brushing your teeth?"

I gulped. I hadn't thought that anyone would notice! "Lemme gooo," I whined.

"No, Charlie," he gave my arm a little shake, "Answer me. Every night I ask you if you're ready for bed and if you've brushed your teeth, and you've been telling me yes when you haven't been brushing. That's lying, little girl."

"No it's not!" I stomped my foot, but I ended up stomping on Daddy's foot accidentally.

"Son of a bitch!" he hollered, holding his foot up and rubbing it.

"S-sorry-"

I saw his jaw twitch, and he snapped, "I've had it with you!"

He reached for me, and all of a sudden I was looking at the tile floor of the bathroom, face down over Daddy's lap.

"I don't know where all this is coming from, but it's going to stop," he said in a hard voice, and he began to spank me.

I yelped and started to struggle. "Daddy stoooop! I said sorry!" I wailed.

"We've had more than one talk about attitude and sassing. This behavior is unacceptable, and I'm tired of going over it again and again."

"Okaaay!" I kicked my feet, tears coming to my eyes, and tried to push up on his thigh as the spanks continued to fall.

Daddy tilted one leg up slightly, which moved me forward a little, and then I felt him tucking the hem of my nightgown onto my lower back. He pulled my panties down and put his arm across my back.

"And NO—MORE- LYING!" he landed a hard swat after each word, and I burst into tears as his hand began to pepper my bare bottom.

Once my whole rear end was stinging, he stopped. "If this behavior of yours keeps up, I'm going to be a lot more strict with you. It'll be a bedtime spanking every night until you decide to stop smart-mouthing and throwing attitude. Is that what needs to happen?" his voice was still stern.

"N—no, p-please, Da-daddy," I whimpered.

He laid a set of smacks on the lowest part of my butt and then pulled my panties up and stood me in front of him.

"No lying, and you brush your teeth and do what you're supposed to do," he raised his eyebrows and gave me a look.

"Y-yes, Daddy," my chest hitched.

He put his arms around me and held me until I was only sniffling. Then he stood up from the closed toilet seat and picked up my toothbrush.

"Brush your teeth," he said, running it under the tap and putting toothpaste on it.

I wiped my eyes and blew my nose with some toilet paper, and then meekly brushed my teeth. I followed Daddy into my bedroom, and noticed Uncle Sam and Grandpa John in the hallway.

"We came to say good-night," Uncle Sam said.

"You owe your uncle and grandfather an apology, you were very rude to them at the table," Daddy said in a hard voice.

I started to cry again, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry!" I wailed again.

Uncle Sam came over and sat down on the bed. "You need to watch how you speak to people, all right?" he said gently, hugging me, "Get a good night's sleep, and do better tomorrow."

"Okay," I agreed.

Grandpa John kissed my forehead and hugged me. "Sleep well, darlin'," he said quietly.

Daddy sat down on the bed and looked at me.

"Sorry, Daddy," I whispered.

He pulled me into a tight hug for a long moment. "I'm sorry I lost my temper with you. Let's have a better day tomorrow, all right?"

He let me go and I laid down, and he pulled the covers up and tucked them around my shoulders.

My stomach growling with hunger woke me up. I got out of bed and padded downstairs. The t.v. was off in the living room, so I thought that maybe everyone was asleep, but then I heard a noise in the kitchen.

"-is new for all of us, not just Charlie," I heard Daddy say.

"She's testing things, to make sure that the boundaries that we set are still in place," Uncle Sam said.

"I don't ever remember feeling like I had to test Dad like this, the way she acts."

"Well, Dad was the king of firm boundaries, wasn't he? You always knew where you stood with John Winchester. Charlie's life has been through massive changes recently, and now she's seeing what other kid's lives are like, and she needs to know that things are not going to change. She needs constants in her life, rules and boundaries."

I didn't want them to start talking about more rules for me, so I walked into the kitchen, as Daddy was saying, "Man, I wish that- Charlie, what are you doing up?"

He and Uncle Sam were sitting at the kitchen table. There was a towel spread out and they each had a gun all taken apart and spread out in front of them.

"I—I'm hungry," I blushed and stared at my feet.

"Do you want some dinner? There's leftover meatloaf and potatoes," Uncle Sam said.

"Okay," I agreed.

"Let me put this together and I'll heat it up for you," he told me.

I stayed in the doorway, nervous about going near the table and the guns.

"You can sit down, just don't touch anything," Daddy said.

I walked over and sat down at the table, putting my hands in my lap.

Uncle Sam finished putting his gun together and set it on the table next to Daddy's elbow, then he got up and washed his hands.

"Meatloaf sandwich, Dean?" he asked as he leaned into the fridge.

"You know it," Daddy said with a grin.

Uncle Sam prepared a plate and put it in the microwave, then set a sandwich in front of Daddy. It looked like it was just a thick slab of meatloaf between two pieces of bread.

Daddy picked it up and took a bite.

"Is—is that cold?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Best there is."

"Ew!" I wrinkled my nose, and he laughed.

Uncle Sam put the plate in front of me and handed me a fork.

I looked up at him. "Thanks, Uncle Sam," I said gratefully. I felt lucky that he was so nice to me, that both of them were nice. They didn't send me back to bed with an empty stomach or yell at me.

I watched Daddy finish cleaning the gun and then put it back together.

"Am I gonna learn how to shoot a gun?" I asked.

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "Not if I have anything to say about it," he said firmly.

"But shouldn't I learn how, just in case?" I looked at Uncle Sam and then at Daddy.

"Well there's not ever gonna be a 'just in case', so put it out of your mind," Daddy gave me a look.

"But-"

"Charlie, NO," Daddy's voice was deeper now, and stern, "You arguing with me is not going to change my mind, so drop it. You're only going to end up getting yourself in trouble."

"Missouri said-"

"I don't care what she said, I'm your father, and I'm telling you NO! Now that is ENOUGH!" Daddy slammed his fist down on the table, and I jumped.

He leaned forward and pointed at me. "What did I tell you earlier about the smart-mouthing? Do I need to put that rule in place about a bedtime spanking for the rest of the week?"

"I—I wasn't sassing!" I protested.

"Arguing with me like that is close enough," he growled, frowning at me, "And I've had it, little girl. No more. Do you understand?"

"Okay—I mean, yes, Daddy," I said quickly. I didn't want him to keep being angry with me.

"What's going to happen if you keep on with the sassing and arguing?"

"Uh, a- a s-spanking at bedtime," I felt my face get a little red, and I looked down at my plate.

"Is that what you want?" he asked, still stern.

"N-no, Daddy," I said nervously.

"Good. Make sure it doesn't have to happen." He stood up and picked up the cleaning supplies, taking them into another room, and then he washed his hands. Uncle Sam picked up the guns and left the room with them. By the time they came back, I was finished eating.

"I'm done," I said, carrying my plate over to the sink, "Thanks for letting me have a snack." I said to Uncle Sam as he came over to me.

He leaned down to hug me. "You're welcome, sweetheart," he said, "Good night."

I walked over to Daddy. "Good ni—oh!" I exclaimed as he swung me up into his arms.

"Let's get you back in bed," he said, carrying me up to my room. I put my arms around him and leaned my head on his shoulder as he walked up the stairs.

He put me in bed and tucked me in again. "Good night, kiddo, be good."

"Good night, Daddy," I yawned.

In the morning, Uncle Sam told me to go upstairs and brush my teeth after breakfast, and then he followed me to the bathroom. He leaned into my room while I was at the sink, and then when I was finished, he said, "You didn't make your bed, Charlie, and you didn't put your clothes in the hamper either."

"I—I just didn't get to it yet, gosh!" I grumbled.

"I noticed last night that your bed wasn't made either. You need to do everything that you're supposed to do, every day."

"Okaay!" I walked over to my bed and started to pull up the covers.

"Charlie," Uncle Sam sighed, "Don't start with the attitude, please."

We went downstairs to work on my school work for a while. It took us longer than usual and we ate a late lunch, then Grandpa John asked Uncle Sam to help him with his computer. Uncle Sam got my bike out so I could ride it.

As I was riding up the sidewalk, Macy and Cara came out of their house with their mom. Stella started to take the wreaths off of the front of the house.

"Hey, Charlie!" Macy waved to me, and I stopped my bike and went to talk to her.

"What didja get for Christmas?" Macy asked.

"Uh, I got this bike, and lots of books, and some figurines," I told her, "What did you get?"

"We got a big playhouse but it's over at my daddy's. We wented there for Christmas. An' I got a thing to do art on, what's it called, Mommy?" Macy looked over at her mom.

"An easel," Stella said.

"Yeah, that, an' some paints. Do you like to paint?"

"I do drawing," I said.

"May-May, fissys!" Cara demanded. She was holding a plastic bowl of Goldfish crackers.

"Okay, Cara. Do you wanna play 'quarium with us?" Macy asked me.

"What's that?"

Macy took a goldfish out of the bowl and said, "Here comes the fishy!" She moved it through the air like it was swimming, and Cara opened her mouth. Macy popped the cracker into Cara's mouth, and Cara giggled and started chewing.

"Me! Me do!" Cara said, picking up a fish. She waved the cracker around, and Macy opened her mouth.

"Fissy!" Cara put the cracker in Macy's mouth, and she ate it.

Macy took out another goldfish. "Fishy is swimmin'," she grinned, acting like she was going to put the cracker in Cara's mouth, but then at the last second she put it in her own mouth.

"Heeey! Fissy to me!" Cara exclaimed.

"I know, I was just teasin'," Macy picked up another cracker and made it swim into Cara's mouth.

Cara picked up two crackers this time.

"One fish two fish," said Macy.

"Weh fiss boo fiss," Cara said, and tried to throw the crackers into Macy's open mouth. Neither of them went in. That made Cara laugh loudly.

"You try!" Macy said to me.

I opened my mouth, and Macy tried to toss a goldfish into my mouth. It sailed over my shoulder. She and I started trying to throw goldfish in each other's mouths and into Cara's mouth. We were all laughing a lot, and then somehow Macy actually got a cracker into my mouth.

"Yaaay!" Cara cheered, clapping her hands.

"There you are," I heard someone say.

Uncle Sam was coming up the sidewalk. "What are you doing?"

"Playing aquarium!" I told him.

"Looks like a lot of fish have escaped," Uncle Sam said with a smile, looking at the crackers all over the sidewalk. "How are you?" he asked Stella.

"I've been all right, trying to get back on track after the holiday. The girls spent Christmas with their father, so we've been slowly getting back into our routine. You?" Stella placed a wreath in a large plastic bin.

"Same old same old," Uncle Sam said.

"Oh, there's going to be a New Year's Eve party over at the Williams' house, starting at 7 pm. They'll have movies in their basement for the kids, and if Charlie wants to crash down there she can. We do this every year, have a neighborhood party, so that families can get together, and not have to worry about driving home. There will be 'adult beverages' served closer to midnight."

"Okay, thanks for letting me know," Uncle Sam said.

"Girls, clean up the crackers, it's rest time in a few," Stella said.

"Noooo!" Cara whined, "No west!"

"Yes, Cara," Stella said.

Macy began to pick the goldfish up off the sidewalk and I helped her. We put them back into the bowl, which was almost empty.

"Thanks for the goldfish," I said, walking over to my bike.

"Seeya, Charlie," Macy waved. Cara was sitting on the ground with her arms crossed, sulking. As Uncle Sam and I walked over to our house, I heard Stella saying, "Come on, little girl, enough pouting. Let's go inside."

"The Williams are your friend's family, aren't they?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yeah, I think so," I said, "Are we gonna go to the party?" I asked him.

"I don't know, I'll have to see what your dad wants to do," Uncle Sam said, "Let's work on dinner, I need you to cut up some peppers for me."

"Okay, Uncle Sam," I followed him into the kitchen. He kept me busy, helping him make meatballs. It took a while to make all of them, and then put them in the oven to bake, and I helped him with the pasta sauce. I had just put the spaghetti in to boil when Daddy came into the kitchen.

"Daddy!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around him.

He leaned down to hug me. "I didn't expect to see you here, I thought you'd be at your friend's house."

"Uncle Sam wanted me to help make dinner. We made a ton of meatballs!"

"A ton? Well, that's great, because I'm hungry!" Daddy tweaked my nose.

"The Williams' are having a New Year's Eve party at their house, we've been invited," Uncle Sam told him, "Apparently the whole neighborhood goes."

"Can we go, Daddy? I've never been to a New Year's Eve party!" I looked up at him.

"I don't get the point of celebrating, it's just another year," Daddy said.

"But I wanna stay up until midnight! All the grownups are s'posed to drink champagne an' kiss each other!" I told him.

He laughed. "Where did you hear that?"

"It's in lots of shows. Can we go?" I hung on to his arm.

"Well, I guess. You really think you can stay up until midnight?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna try. I'll drink lots of coffee and soda!"

Both of them laughed. "We'll see about that," Uncle Sam said, "Set the table, please, Charlie." He put the plates and silverware on the table and I set them out at each place.

"Oh, Sam, this Friday the guys I work with are going out to shoot some pool, you should come with," Daddy said.

"I'll think about it," Uncle Sam replied, pouring the hot water and pasta into the strainer that was in the sink.

"Who's gonna put me to bed then?" I asked.

"Grandpa John will be here, he'll do it," Daddy said.

"Grandpa John will do what?" he asked, coming into the kitchen.

"I'm going out to play pool with some of my co-wokers this Friday, and I told Sam he should come along," Daddy got a couple of beer bottles out of the fridge, opened one, and handed it to Uncle Sam, and then opened the other one and took a drink.

"That's a great idea, Sam, you should go, and get out of the house," Grandpa John said, "I can hold down the fort here with this one," he grinned at me and ruffled my hair, then sat down. "Charlie, I was at the library today, and they have a home-schooling group that meets there and does crafts. I got a flyer for it," he took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and set it on the table.

"I'll look at it. Would you like to go, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Uhh, I dunno...the last time we did a group at the library is where we met that Cole kid," I said sourly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about all that," Daddy chuckled and shook his head.

"I didn't," I grumbled, "He was mean."

"He had...problems," Daddy said.

"It would be another chance to meet some women," Grandpa John said with another grin, "You know the majority of parents there are going to be moms."

"Then I don't wanna go," I sat down and crossed my arms.

"Why not?" Daddy asked.

The old fear I had felt before came back. " 'Cause- 'cause what if you meet someone an', an' you decide to marry them, an' they don't like me!"

Daddy chuckled. "Charlie, that's not-"

"Don't laugh!" I said loudly, and tears came to my eyes, "It's not funny!"

Daddy put his hand on mine. "Are you telling me that after all this time you're still worried about that?"

"I—I-I dunno!" I exclaimed.

"Well, that's not going to happen, all right? People don't just meet someone and get married and then decide to dump everyone else. That kind of stuff happens in movies, but not real life. And it's not going to happen with any of us." Daddy squeezed my hand.

Uncle Sam brought the pot of pasta sauce to the table, and then got a big loaf of crusty bread out of the oven. He cut thick slices of it and passed them out, and then set a bowl of salad on the table.

I served myself some salad and reached for the spaghetti.

"Take more salad than that," Uncle Sam told me.

"I'm eating some salad!" I protested.

"Yeah, like three leaves. Take a bigger serving," Uncle Sam insisted.

I opened my mouth to protest again, and Daddy gave me a look. "Arguing," he said pointedly.

I closed my mouth and put more salad on my plate.

While we ate, Grandpa John talked to Daddy and Uncle Sam about some hunters that they all knew. He said he was going to be helping Uncle Bobby with a project for a while.

We were just finishing up when the doorbell rang. Daddy got up and walked to the front door, opening it and looking out.

"Hi, is, um, Sam there? I'm sorry, I don't think we've been formally introduced, I'm Stella," we heard her voice.

"I'm Dean," Daddy said, then turned from the door, and called, "Sam, a friend is here for you!"

He grinned as Uncle Sam walked to the door. "Hey, Stella, what's up?" he asked.

"Hi, Sam, I didn't know who else to ask, I'm sorry- one of my friends has been in a car accident and she's at the hospital. She needs for me to give her a ride home. Do you think—could you stay with the girls until I get home?"

"Uh, sure," Uncle Sam glanced at Daddy.

"Oh, Macy wants to know if Charlie can come too," Stella said.

"That's fine," Uncle Sam turned to me, "Charlie, want to come with me?"

"Yeah," I got up from my chair. Uncle Sam looked relieved.

I put my shoes and my coat on, and we left the house. Stella had Cara on her hip and Macy walked next to her. "It'll be like a playdate!" she said excitedly.

When we got into their house, Macy dragged me to her bedroom. She had a lot of toys scattered all over the floor.

Stella came to the door and set Cara down. "All right, if I'm not back by bedtime, you get ready. Macy, help your sister, and then you can fall asleep watching a video. Sam knows the rules, so don't try to pull anything with him, okay?"

Macy got up and walked over to her. "Okay, Mommy, I'll be a helper."

"Good girl," Stella leaned down and kissed Macy and then Cara, "I'll be back soon."

Cara started to bring a bunch of her toys in from her room- a big bin of wooden blocks and little stuffed animals. Macy had a toy garage with little car and little figurines to put in the cars. She showed me how they made roads with the blocks and then made the cars drive on the roads. Macy had little plastic houses for some of the figures, and we set them up to make a little town. The stuffed animals lived there too.

Eventually Uncle Sam came to the door. "It's about time for you, uh, you girls to get ready for bed. Your mom said you could watch a video on the sofa after snack."

"Okay!" Macy stood up, "C'mon, Cara."

"She said she put Cara's pajamas on her bed. Does she need help?" Uncle Sam asked Macy. Cara was hiding behind her, not looking at Uncle Sam.

"No, I got it," Macy said confidently, "She's ascared of you."

"Oh," Uncle Sam said with surprise, "Why is she scared of me?"

"'Cause you're so tall an' big!" Macy looked up at him.

Cara looked at me. "Taw-ee tome too!" she held her hand out to me.

I got up and followed them into Cara's room, which was smaller. She had a tiny bed that had wooden rails on the sides of it, and low furniture. Macy helped Cara take her clothes off, and then Cara had to put on a sleep diaper, which she stepped into like underpants. Cara put her nightgown on, and then we went back into Macy's room and she put a matching nightgown on.

We went out to the kitchen. Uncle Sam had cups of juice for us and bowls of grapes and crackers. We went into the living room and Macy picked out a DVD to watch. "We like the Barbie fairy tale movies," she told me.

"You can come in and sit down," Uncle Sam said to Cara, who was hovering in the doorway.

Cara ran over and climbed onto the end of the sofa. "May-May sit wif me!" she held her arms out.

"I'll sit next to you," Macy said.

"Taw-ee sit!" Cara patted the other cushion. So I sat on one side of her and Macy sat on the other, and Uncle Sam sat next to me.

I had never seen a Barbie movie before. Uncle Sam said that they made it on a computer, and that's why the cartoon looked different than regular cartoons. It had lots of songs in it, and Macy and Cara sang along to them. I didn't think I would fall asleep, but the next thing I knew, Uncle Sam was patting my back.

"Charlie, it's time to go," he said quietly.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I had been laying with my head on his thigh. Macy was on the other side, with her head on his other leg, and Cara was curled up next to her.

Stella leaned down and picked Cara up. "Thanks a lot, Sam," she said.

"You want me to get her?" Sam gestured to Macy.

"No, I'll come back and get her."

I stood up and stumbled, yawning, and Uncle Sam picked me up to carry me home. He helped me get ready for bed, and Daddy came into my room so they could both tuck me in.


	88. Chapter 88

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter took a lot longer to write than I originally anticipated- I hope you enjoy it! Still having issues with anxiety and depression, so thanks to all of you who leave reviews and comments! I'm currently dealing with some new health issues and need to have some testing done, so please send me some good vibes. I have to go into the Big Bad MRI machine soon- eek! (don't worry, I'll be sedated) XXXOOO  
> **********

Mrs. Williams showed us downstairs to the basement. It was full of kids and noise. There were colorful lights strung up along the walls and shiny decorations all over.

There was a feast laid out on the table. A huge platter of little lunchmeat sandwiches, little mini pizzas, cheese curls, Goldfish, tortilla chips and salsa, three different kinds of potato chips, bowls of gummy bears, M & Ms, licorice, cookies, and individual containers of Jell-o and pudding. There was a cooler filled with cans of sodas and a cooler with juice boxes and bottled water.

I looked up at Daddy and Uncle Sam, who were looking at the food with surprised looks on their faces. "Can—can I have some?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, just in moderation, y'know," Daddy reached over and grabbed a handful of M & Ms.

"Use your judgement, don't over-eat, okay? We trust you," Uncle Sam said.

"Hey Charlie! Come do make-up!" Aubrey called to me. She was sitting across the room at a low table, and there were a couple of older looking girls sitting with her. They had all kinds of make-up and nail polish spread out.

I looked up at Daddy again, hopeful.

"No make-up tonight, kiddo," he said.

"Can I paint my nails?" I asked.

Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam. "Sure, I guess..."

Stella came walking over with Cara on her hip and Macy clinging to her hand.

"Charlie, you're here!" Macy exclaimed.

"I'm glad to see a familiar face!" Stella said with a smile, "The girls were nervous, they don't really know any of these kids."

Cara bounced on her mom's hip and pointed at the table. "Want Emmy-nems! An' fissys!"

"Mommy, can I have pudding?" Macy asked.

"After you eat a sandwich or a pizza, you can have one pudding," Stella told her.

"That sounds like a good idea," Uncle Sam said, looking at me, "Eat something a little healthy before you dive into the junk."

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said.

"You're going to have to watch Cara and make sure she doesn't get into the food, all right?" Stella said to Macy.

"I will, Mommy," Macy agreed.

"You help out, Charlie, keep an eye on the little one too, okay?" Daddy said.

"Okay, Daddy."

Stella got food for Cara and Macy, and I put some food on a plate, and we walked over to a sofa and sat down together. 'The Lego Movie' was playing on a big t.v.

"I'm going to go upstairs now, come and get me if there's a problem," Stella said to Macy.

"Okay, Mommy," Macy replied.

"Same goes for us," Daddy put his hand on my head.

"Okay," I smiled up at him.

Daddy and Uncle Sam went upstairs with Stella.

There was a pool table at one end of the basement, and a few teenagers were playing. Next to that was a table with boxes of games on it and a couple of kids were playing Monopoly.

After we ate, I helped the girls throw away their trash. "Let's go do nails, want me to paint yours?" I asked Macy.

Her eyes lit up. "Yeah!"

We walked over to where Aubrey and the other girls were sitting. "Can we paint our nails?" I asked.

Aubrey tossed her head. "Sure," she said, "Do you want me to do a makeover on you?"

"Uh, no thanks," I said.

"Why not?"

"Yeah, let us do your makeup," another girl said, leaning forward and looking at me.

"Um, well my Daddy said no," I said uncomfortably.

Aubrey scoffed. The other girl rolled her eyes. "Dads are so dumb, my dad tells me I can't wear makeup to school and I just hide it in my backpack and put it on when I get there. He's clueless."

"I'm gonna paint Macy's nails," I told them. Macy picked out a nail polish, and I painted her nails quickly. We both kept an eye on Cara, but she was sitting on the floor watching the movie.

I was painting my nails when the movie ended. Addison put 'Frozen' in the DVD player, and Macy and I sat down with her to watch. When 'Let It Go' came on, everyone sang along, and then Addison made it play again, and a lot of kids stood up and we all sang it together again.

We sat down on the floor as the movie continued. I noticed that Cara wasn't sitting with us, just as I heard Aubrey say, "Hey, what are you doing! Get off that! You—what did you do, kid!"

I turned to see Aubrey push Cara down onto the floor. Cara whimpered, and Macy got up and ran over to her. "Don't touch my sister!" she yelled at Aubrey.

I stood up and hurried over to them.

"She—she ate my lipstick!" Aubrey yelled back, pointing at Cara.

We looked at Cara, who had red lipstick smeared on her mouth and chin.

"Cara, let's go talk to Mommy," Macy said.

"Nooo," Cara whined, and we could see that she had lipstick caked on her teeth too.

Macy pulled on Cara's hand, but Cara went limp and laid flat. "Nooo," she whined again.

"I'm gonna go get Mommy, then, and she's gonna be mad that you didn't come with me!" Macy said, stomping her foot.

Cara whimpered again, but she stood up, and followed Macy.

"Charlie, come with me, an' help me find my mommy," Macy said to me. I went up the stairs with them, following behind Cara, who had to take the steps one at a time.

The living room was crowded full of people. The t.v. was showing the New Year's Eve show where the ball drops, and there was a performer singing and dancing on a stage in front of a huge crowd.

We walked through lots of people standing around talking in the living room, and finally came across Stella talking to Daddy and Uncle Sam. They all had red plastic cups in their hands.

"Mommy, Cara ated a lipstick," Macy said regretfully.

"Oh, Cara," Stella sighed and shook her head. She reached down and took Cara's chin in her hand, and tried to wipe her mouth off, and Cara whined again.

Aubrey had come into the room behind us, and she and her mom came over to us. "That was my lipstick that costed me almost 10 dollars!" Aubrey said accusingly, holding up the tube. There was just a little stub of lipstick left.

"I'm so sorry," Stella said to Aubrey, "I'll give you money to replace it, all right?"

"You don't have to do that," Mrs. Williams shook her head.

"Yeah she does, Mom, that brat ate the whole thing!" Aubrey glared at Cara.

"My sister's not a brat!" Macy pushed Aubrey.

"Hey!" Aubrey exclaimed.

"All right, all right," Stella sighed again, "I think we should go home now, we've have enough excitement for one night."

"Noooo," Cara whined.

"Yes, honey, it's very late," Stella said.

"No, Mommy, me not go!" Cara yelled angrily, stomping her foot.

"Yes, Cara, let's go get your coat."

Cara threw herself down on the floor and began to kick and drum her fists on the floor. She hollered, "No! No! Me not go! No go, Mommy!"

"See, I told you she was a brat," Aubrey sneered.

"Aubrey, go downtairs," her mother snapped.

Stella leaned down and picked Cara up. "Let's go get our coats on, come on, Macy," Stella said. Macy followed her down the hallway.

Daddy raised his eyebrows and looked at Uncle Sam. "How the hell does she keep it together? She's so calm."

Uncle Sam shook his head. "I guess she's had a lot of experience, with two girls."

Daddy put his hand on my head. "Other than Cara eating lipstick, are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, I painted Macy's nails, and mine!" I held my hand up.

"That's a dark shade of pink," Daddy commented.

Stella came back into the room, holding Cara, who was still crying. "I'm so sorry," she said to Mrs. Williams, "She's tired, it's past her bedtime, and she's grumpy."

"Oh, I understand," Mrs. Williams said. She walked them to the door.

"Bye, Charlie," Macy called to me as they left.

I went back downstairs and found Addison. We sat down and watched the rest of 'Frozen', and then she said, "I'm hungry, let's get somethin' to eat."

We went over to the table that had all the food. There wasn't much left. She grabbed a handful of chips and ate them. "I didn't get any Jell-o or pudding, no fair! Let's go see if my mom's got any upstairs."

We had just gone into the living room when a couple of boys came running up the stairs. "Some of the kids are fighting!" they announced.

Daddy and Uncle Sam followed Mrs. Williams down, and a couple other people went after them.

"Let's see what's in the kitchen for us to eat," Addison said, walking into the kitchen. There were a couple of pans on the stove. One of them had what looked like tiny pies on it, and the other pan had a wedge of cheese that was all melty.

"Eww, it's quiche and brie," Addison wrinkled her nose.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Gross stuff that grown-ups like," she walked over to the counter, "Hey, Mom didn't tell me she made more Jell-o!"

There was a plastic tray sitting on the counter next to the refrigerator, with little paper cups of Jell-o on it.

Addison opened a drawer and pulled out two spoons, and handed me one. Then she took a couple of the cups and gave me one. There was only about a mouthful of Jell-o in each cup, so we ate a second cup.

"Let's see what else is in the fridge, maybe she made some pudding too," Addison opened the fridge door and leaned in. She brought out a dish filled with chocolate-covered strawberries, and we ate a couple of them.

My head started to feel a little funny, but it was okay, because I felt happy.

We both heard the music coming from the living room- "I love Taylor Swift!" Addison shrieked, and we ran into the other room.

"C'mon, let's dance!" Addison pulled me up onto the sofa, and we began to jump on the cushions and sing along to the song.

The door to the basement opened, and people came into the room.

"-get some ice for that," Addison's mom was saying.

"No, I'll just take him home, thanks anyway," a woman said, leading a boy over to the doorway, "Again, I'm so sorry this happened."

"Me too, what do you say, Chance?" Chance's father had his hand on Chance's shoulder.

"Sorry," Chance said sullenly. "Let's go," Chance's Dad gave him a shake.

They left, and Mrs. Williams closed the door after them. "Let's see, where was I? Oh, I just took the food out of the oven, let me set it out on the table," she walked into the kitchen.

Daddy and Uncle Sam came over to me. "Charlie, should you be jumping on—oof!" Daddy said as I launched myself off the sofa at him, and he caught me in his arms. My head felt a little spinny.

"Hi, Daddy! You know what? It's New Year's Eve, and I love you!" I looked up at him and laughed. "Everything is- is awesome!"

"Everything is awesooooomme!" Addison sang, and I laughed and joined in, "Everything is cool when you're part of a teeeam!"

"Dance with us, Daddy!" I insisted, grabbing on to his arms, "Don't you just love Taylor Swift?"

"Uh-" I saw Daddy glance at Uncle Sam. "Charlie, what's going on?"

I threw myself at Uncle Sam, who reached out and caught me. "Whoa, Charlie!"

"Uncle Sam, you dance with me!" I said, leaning my head back. I felt so happy!

Imagining Uncle Sam and his long legs dancing seemed silly, and I started to giggle.

"Jim, did you get into the Jell-o shooters?" Mrs. Williams came into the living room with the tray of Jello- cups.

"Ooh, I want more!" Addison reached her hand out, "Bring me some, Mom!"

"What, Addi?"

"Jell-o shooters?" Uncle Sam said, looking from me to Addison and then at her mom.

"We had some!" I told him.

"Why'd you hide the Jell-o up here, Mom, no fair!" Addison jumped off the sofa and ran over to her mom, stumbling and tripping over her feet. She burst out laughing after she fell, and just laid there on the floor.

"Charlie, you- you had some of the Jell-o?" Daddy asked, "How much?"

"Two," I said, "But it's not very much at all, and you know what?"

"What?" Daddy asked.

"I love you!" I leaned towards him, and he took me out of Uncle Sam's arms. I hugged him tightly around the neck and wrapped my legs around his torso.

"Oh my God, I think you're drunk," Daddy said.

"Addi—Addison, did you have some of this Jell-o? How much did you have?" Mrs. Williams bent down to her.

"Jus' two, Mom, gosh," Addison slurred, "S' not a lot, y'know!"

"What did you put in there?" Uncle Sam asked, pulling out his cell phone, "How much did you put in?"

"Uh, I mixed it with vodka, about 8 oz. The recipe said that it would be watered down."

"Okay..." Uncle Sam was looking something up on his phone, "8 ounces is...the average amount of Jell-o...okay..." he looked up at us, "Okay, they won't need to go to the hospital or anything. They haven't had enough that's dangerous. Getting some food into them and making sure they drink a lot of water should help get it out of their systems."

"I wanna go watch Frozen again!" Addison stood up and tried to walk, but she was weaving.

"Yeah, let's go!" I tried to get down out of Daddy's arms, "Let's goooo!" I laughed, and started to sing, "Let it go, let it GOOO!"

"Can't hold it back anyMOOOORRE!" Addison sang with me.

"Uh, no, Charlie," Daddy shifted me in his arms, "Charlie!" he said loudly, "I think we're going to go home now."

"Awww, why, Daddy? It's so much fun here!" I kicked my feet.

"Because—we need to get you home."

"I'll go get the coats," Uncle Sam said.

Daddy walked over to the table, where there was a bunch of food set out. "Do you want something?" he asked.

I leaned my head on his shoulder. "I want a hug, because I love you, Daddy! A lot!"

"I love you too, Charlie," he leaned over and picked up cracker, "Eat this."

I chewed on the cracker, "Do we have Jello at home?"

"No, I don't think we do," Daddy said.

Uncle Sam came over holding our coats. He helped me into my coat, and zipped it up for me, then he put my Hello Kitty hat on my head. "It's started snowing, so it's going to be pretty cold."

"Uncle Sam," I said.

"What, Charlie?" Uncle Sam asked with concern.

"I love you!" I crowed happily.

He chuckled. "I love you too," he looked at Daddy, and said quietly, "At least we know she's a happy drunk."

"Guys, I am so sorry," Mrs. Williams said, looking shame-faced, "I had no idea- well, I didn't think that any of the kids were going to come up here and get into the food, I told the girls they had to stay downstairs and eat the food that was down there, and that what's up here was for the grown-ups, but..." she sighed and shook her head.

"You'll have to have a discussion with them about listening to you and doing what you tell them," Daddy told her.

She shook her head again. "Not like they'll listen to me, you know?"

"Well, sometimes you gotta lay down the law with them. Charlie knows she has to listen to me, don't you, kiddo?" Daddy glanced down at me.

"Yes, Daddy," I said.

"Charlie is so polite, and such a sweet girl, you're so lucky."

Daddy patted my back. "Yeah, we did luck out with her, but she also knows she has to follow the rules and all. You ready?"

"I wanna stay!" I pouted.

"Nope, we're going to go home. C'mon," Daddy shifted me and set me on his other hip.

It was snowing lightly as we walked, but the flakes were big. I waved my arms in the air. "I can pretend that I'm Elsa! Let it go, let it gooo," I sang loudly.

"Charlie, shh, not so loud, it's kinda late," Uncle Sam looked at me.

"Uncle Sam, you—you've got snow in your hair! You're so big an' tall you look like a, a, whatsit? A—a yeti snow monster!" I laughed loudly.

Uncle Sam shook his head.

Daddy chuckled. "That's a new one!"

"Can we build a snowman? An' go sledding?" I asked.

"There's barely any snow on the ground, Charlie, we'll have to see how much it snowed, in the morning," Daddy said as he walked up the steps of our porch.

Grandpa John was sitting on the sofa with a glass of amber liquid in his hand. He stood up as we came into the room.

"I didn't expect you back until later, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Daddy huffed a laugh as he set me down and unzipped my coat, "Someone got into the Jell-o shooters, and we figured it'd be best to take her home and get her sobered up."

Grandpa John looked at me with his eyebrows raised. "Oh really? How'd that happen?"

"Come on, let's get you something to eat, Charlie," Uncle Sam said, and I followed him into the kitchen.

"I want to know how you got ahold of the Jell-o," Daddy said, with a serious look.

I sat down and looked up at him and Grandpa John. "We, um, we wanted some food, an' there wasn't much left in the basement. Addi said she didn't get any Jell-o, an' that her mom might have some in the kitchen. She found the tray of little cups sitting out, an' she—she gave me one. Well, we each had two."

Daddy frowned. "Am—am I in trouble?" I asked nervously, "I didn't know, they were just sitting there! We thought it was just Jell-o! I—I didn't even know you could put other stuff in it!"

Daddy sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "No, you're not in trouble, it was a- mistake. Next time-" he looked over at Uncle Sam, "We'll just have to watch things."

Grandpa John chuckled and shook his head. "It's a far cry from you sneaking my beer when you were 11, Dean," he said with a grin.

"Charlie, do you want a grilled cheese sandwich?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Yeah, that would be yummy!" I said, "and y' know what? I love you!"

Uncle Sam gave me a tall glass of ice water. "Drink it, all of it," he told me, chuckling.

Grandpa John sat down next to me, setting his glass on the table.

"Did Daddy get in trouble for drinking your beer?" I asked him.

He nodded, "You bet he did."

"What happened?"

"He got a spanking, and was grounded for a week," Grandpa John said.

"It took me almost that long to sit comfortably after you were done with me," Daddy said ruefully.

I looked at Grandpa John. "I was scared of you when you first came here, y'know, 'cause you were so grumpy. You didn't like me, an' I didn't like you neither."

Daddy laughed, and Uncle Sam turned to us and said, "Oh, are we telling truths now?" with a grin.

"Well, Charlie—it's not that I didn't like you-" Grandpa John looked uncomfortable.

"You were scared of having a grand-kid, I know," I shrugged, "but I'm not scared of you anymore, an' I love you!" I slid out of my chair and hugged his side.

He laughed, and put his arm around me to hug me back. "Well, that's good to hear. I'm sorry that I scared you, little one," his eyes looked sad for a moment as I sat down.

"Here you go," Uncle Sam set a plate in front of me. "Anyone else?"

"I was kinda nervous of you too, 'cause you were so big," I said to Uncle Sam, "You are like a big giant- a—a sass—a sask-wash-" my tongue felt heavy, like I couldn't get the word out right- "A sams-squanch!" I laughed, "Uncle Sam-squanch!"

Daddy started to laugh harder, but Uncle Sam looked annoyed.

"C'mon, Sam, she's probably not even going to remember this," Daddy chuckled, "and it is pretty funny."

"Are you still nervous about me?" Uncle Sam asked me.

"No, 'cause I love you!" I smiled at him, " 'Cept when you're mad or you're about to spank me, 'cause you have big big hands that're hard, an' they hurt a lot!"

Daddy and Grandpa John laughed. "Oh, Charlie, you're a trip," Daddy wiped his eyes.

I ate my grilled cheese as Uncle Sam served sandwiches to everyone else. Then he made a big pan a scrambled eggs too, and we ate that together.

"It's almost midnight, should we watch the ball drop?" Daddy asked.

We went into the living room and turned on the t.v. Grandpa John had his glass, and Daddy and Uncle Sam each had a bottle of beer, and I had another glass of water.

We counted down to midnight, and then we all clinked our glasses together, and hugged each other. I kissed them and told them I loved them too.

"All right, Charlie, it's time for bed," Daddy said to me, "Let's go."

"Let it GOOO, let it GOOO, can't hold it back anyMOOOORE!" I sang loudly as I ran up the stairs. I tripped over my feet and fell, and then I remembered Addison falling down and laughing, and that made me laugh.

"Are you okay?" Daddy hurried behind me.

"Yeah I'm okay," I bounced back up onto my feet. I kept singing as I brushed my teeth and changed my clothes.

Daddy had brought a chair into my room.

"What's that for?" I asked him.

"I'm going to stay with you for a while and keep an eye on you, make sure you're okay," Daddy said. I slid under my covers and he sat down on the bed facing me.

I got up on my knees and put my hands on his cheeks. "Kiss, Daddy," I said, and I kissed him on the lips, saying, "Mwah!" in a melodramatic way, then I giggled and threw my arms around his neck.

He pulled back and looked at me with an odd look on his face. "Charlie?"

"I just love you, Daddy!" I said.

"I love you too, baby," he said quietly, hugging me back, "lay down now."

I laid down and he pulled the covers up. "Happy New Year, Daddy," I said, "I love you!"

"Happy New Year, Charlie, I love you too. Now go to sleep." Daddy pulled the chair close to the head of the bed and sat down in it.

"Daddy?" I rolled over to face him.

"What, Charlie?"

"I love you."


	89. Chapter 89

I woke up the next morning in Daddy's bed. I remembered that I had had bad dreams, and woken up crying in the middle of the night, and that my head had been hurting. Daddy had given me medicine and then brought me into his room to sleep. I couldn't remember what the dreams had been about, and my head only hurt a little bit.

I sat up and stretched, and Daddy opened his eyes and rolled over. "Good morning, Elsa," he grinned at me.

"What d'you mean?" I asked groggily.

"You kept singing 'Let it Go' last night, do you remember?" He sat up and scratched his head.

"Oh...yeah..." I remembered bits and pieces of last night, jumping on the sofa with Addi, being in the basement and Cara eating the lipstick, watching "Frozen" and everyone singing along, going upstairs to find more food-

"Uh, Daddy...am I in trouble?" I asked hesitantly.

"No, why?" he looked at me.

" 'Cause you said—you said I wasn't ever allowed to, y'know, drink... alcohol, and last night-" I scrunched the blanket together in my hands.

"No, you're not in trouble," Daddy ruffled my hair, "Your friend shouldn't have given you that Jell-o, but that's on her for not listening to her mom."

"Addi and Aubrey don't listen to their mom very much," I said.

"I noticed," Daddy replied dryly.

"They don't really get in trouble either."

"Well, that's not a good thing. If a person does something wrong, they should be held accountable for it. That's the way it is when you're an adult, and that's the way it should be when you're a kid too. Those girls will be in for a rude awakening when they get older and get into trouble," Daddy looked at me, "How's your head? Do you still have a headache?"

"Only a little bit," I said.

"We'll get you some more medicine with breakfast. Let's go eat."

I jumped off the bed, remembering that it had been snowing last night when we had walked home. "Ooh, we can see how much it snowed!"

I ran downstairs and opened the front door. To my disappointment, there was only about an inch of snow on the ground.

"I wanted to make a snowman!" I grumped, "And go sledding!"

Uncle Sam came into the living room. "Hopefully we'll get a bigger snow later in the month. It's still winter, you know."

After we ate breakfast, I could hear kids outside yelling in the street. I looked out the front door again, and there were several kids running around throwing snow at each other. A couple of them had sleds and were pulling kids in the road.

I saw Addison go running by, and she stopped and waved at me.

"Daddy, can I go outside and play too?" I asked.

"All right. I don't want you in the street, though," he said.

I ran and got dressed, putting my long johns on underneath my clothes, and two pairs of socks. I threw on my coat and hat, and then joined the others outside.

I ran over to Addison, who was with Aubrey and a couple of other girls.

"Girls against boys!" one of the other girls said. I recognized her from last night, she had been one of the ones putting on make-up.

We grabbed handfuls of snow and threw them at the boys that were running around. The snow didn't pack into snowballs well, so we had to just keep throwing clumps of it.

Suddenly one of the boys came running over, grabbed one of the older girls, and kissed her on the lips.

"EWWW!" Addison and I screamed.

Aubrey and her friends were giggling. "Oh my gosh, he likes her!" one of them screeched.

Addison rolled her eyes at me. "Boys are gross," she said, "All they want to do is kiss an' hug an' stuff."

The older girls huddled together to talk, and Addison and I flopped on our backs and made snow angels, and then ate some snow.

Addison's mother called for them.

"C'mon, Addi!" Aubrey said excitedly.

"We get to go to Palettes!" Addison told me.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a store that sells fancy make-up, Mom said she'd take us there and buy us some stuff! See ya!" Addison ran up the sidewalk behind her sister.

I went inside, because I didn't know any of the other kids.

Grandpa John was sitting on the sofa. "Look at those rosy cheeks," he smiled at me.

"Can I have some hot chocolate?" I asked.

"I don't think we have any," Daddy said.

"Can I have coffee?" I asked hopefully.

"No, Charlie."

"Aww, no fair!" I complained.

"Get changed out of your wet clothes, put them in the bathtub," Daddy told me, "I'll see what we have."

He made me some soup, and I ate that to help me warm up.

"When you get finished with that, we're going to go to the store," Daddy said, "You're going to come with us, because Grandpa John is going over to Bobby's."

"Can I get some nail polish?" I asked, "Pleeease?"

"I guess so," Daddy looked at Uncle Sam and shrugged.

"Can... I get some lipstick and blush too?"

Daddy looked uncomfortable. "No, Charlie. You can put some on sometimes when you go to a friend's house, but I don't want you buying any or wearing it on a regular basis."

"But whyyyyy?" I whined.

"Because you're too young to be wearing make-up," Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam, who nodded in agreement.

"I am not!" I huffed.

"Yeah, you are, and don't argue with me about it any more," Daddy pulled on a strand of my hair.

Grandpa John and Daddy went outside to clear the snow off of their cars, and then we left at the same time.

Daddy pushed the shopping cart, and I walked next to Uncle Sam.

"Can I get some Lucky Charms? Or Coco Puffs?" I asked as we passed the cereal aisle.

"No, Charlie, those aren't healthy," Uncle Sam replied.

"Can I get some Pop-tarts?" I asked, looking up at Daddy with puppy-dog eyes.

He chuckled, but Uncle Sam said, "No, Charlie, those are even worse than sugary cereal."

I stopped walking and stomped my foot. "You're not letting me get anything good!" I snapped.

Daddy stopped pushing the cart and turned to me. "Come on, kiddo, we'll find something else you can pick out."

Uncle Sam let me pick out granola bars and bottles of yogurt smoothies.

As we stood in line to check out, I looked over the racks of candy that were at the end of each aisle.

I leaned on Daddy and grabbed his arm. "Can I get some chocolate? Or some gummy bears? Pleeeeease?"

"Uhh- no, Charlie, not right now."

"Come on, please?" I looked up at him and pulled on his arm.

"Charlie, stop that! I said no," Daddy said sharply.

I let go of him and pouted. It wasn't fair that I couldn't get what I wanted, I had to pick only the things that Uncle Sam said I could!

"How about you take Charlie next door to buy some nail polish, while I pay for this? After I get the car loaded up, I'll come find you," Daddy said to Uncle Sam.

"Sounds like a plan," Uncle Sam agreed, holding his hand out to me, "Come on, Charlie."

We walked two doors down, to a pharmacy. They also sold things like shampoo, soap, make-up, and nail polish. Uncle Sam followed me as I skipped over to the "Beauty Products" aisle.

I looked around for a couple of minutes, and then I showed Uncle Sam the bottles of polish I had picked- a light pink, a shiny blue, and a bright purple.

"Wow, those are...something," he said with a smile, "I didn't know they made nail polish in blue and all that."

"Yeah, they have all the colors!" I exclaimed.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Well...wait. Can I..." I walked over to a rack of make-up and pulled a tube of dark red lipstick off of a shelf.

"Can I get this?" I asked, hoping that my puppy-dog eyes worked.

Uncle Sam shook his head. "No, Charlie, no make-up, remember?"

"Okay..." I sighed, and put the lipstick back.

As we walked up the aisle I saw a different color. "Wait, look!" I showed him the tube, "This is pink! Can I get this one?"

Now Uncle Sam looked uncomfortable. "No, Charlie, no lipstick. Okay, look, if you want to get a tube of lip balm, you can."

"But it's pink, it's—it's natural looking, not like that dark red!"

"No, Charlie. Lip balm or nothing."

"That's not fair!" I stomped my foot and glared up at him, feeling annoyed. "Aubrey and Addison get to wear makeup, and their mom even lets Aubrey wear it to school!"

"No, Charlie, we already talked about this. You're too young."

"Addi's the same age as me and she gets to wear makeup!" I said loudly, stomping my foot again. I got mad. This wasn't fair! "I—I 'm not a baby ya know! I can wear some make-up!"

"Charlotte Anne. I said no. Do you want to put the nail polish away, and just leave?" Uncle Sam asked sternly.

"No! No fair! You're mean!" I yelled, "You never let me do anything!"

I threw the bottles of nail polish down on the floor and they clattered together as they fell. One of them rolled over to the side, underneath the shelf. Another bottle rolled down the aisle.

"All right, young lady, that's enough," Uncle Sam said tightly. He reached for me, and I threw myself down on the floor.

"Get off!" I yelled, kicking my feet and scooting away from him as he leaned down.

"What the hell-?" Daddy was walking up the aisle towards us, and he looked mad!

"Uncle Sam's being mean! Alls I want is a pink lipstick like Addi has!" I yelled, hitting the floor with my fists.

"Did you really just throw those bottles of nail polish?" Daddy asked, "Charlie, get up right now."

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed at him, kicking my feet.

Daddy squatted down in front of me. "Charlotte Anne. You have about three seconds to stop having a tantrum and get up off the floor. If I have to pick you up off the floor, you're going to be in more trouble than you already are," his voice was deep and serious.

"Go away!" I snapped, turning away from him.

Daddy stood up. "All right," he sighed, and then reached down to pick me up. I started to kick and wiggle in his arms.

"No! No fair! Lemme go!" I hollered, as Daddy carried me out of the store.

"My goodness, what a lot of racket!" an old lady said disapprovingly as we walked outside.

"Sam, get the back door," Daddy gritted out as he hurried up to the car.

"You're mean! Uncle Sam is mean! You never let me do what I want!" I hollered as Uncle Sam unlocked the doors and opened the back door.

"Oh, we're back to that again?" Daddy said as he leaned down. He set me on the back seat of the car, and then he flipped me over and pushed me down onto my tummy, so that I was laying at the edge of the seat. My feet were hanging out of the car, and he put his hand on my back and held me there, and then he smacked my butt a couple times.

"Owww!" I shrieked, kicking my feet.

He let me up, and grabbed me, setting me on the seat hard. "Get buckled, and I don't want to hear another word from you until we get home," he said angrily.

He shut the door, and then he and Uncle Sam got into the car. I crossed my arms and didn't move.

Daddy started the car. Uncle Sam glanced back at me. "Wait, Dean," he said, "She's not buckled."

Daddy said, "Little girl, get buckled NOW," over his shoulder.

I sat still.

"You have to the count of three," Daddy said, and his voice was deeper. "One...two...three...god-dammit," he muttered.

"I'll get her," Uncle Sam said quietly. He got out of the front, and opened the back door, sliding in next to me.

In the next second, he had pulled me down over his lap, and his hand was falling on my bottom, hard, quick spanks.

I howled, and tried to kick my feet again. My butt was stinging now.

Uncle Sam stopped spanking. "Are you going to put your seatbelt on?" he asked sternly. He waited a moment. "If I have to buckle you, you're getting a spanking from me after your dad deals with you. I've had enough."

"Okaaay," I whined. He smacked my rear end one last time, and then sat me up and watched me buckle the seat belt on.

He climbed out of the back and got into the front, and Daddy pulled out of the parking space.

It was tense and quiet in the car on the ride home. I unbuckled and got out of the car quickly, and Daddy grabbed my arm and turned me to face him.

"What?" I snapped.

"Get inside and find a corner," he said sternly.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I want you standing in the corner while we're unloading the groceries. Find a corner and put your nose in it, and think about your behavior."

I huffed, stomping up the porch stairs and into the living room. Uncle Sam was coming behind me, his hands full of plastic shopping bags. I started to walk towards the stairs, to run to my room, and he said, "Hold it, young lady. What did your Dad tell you to do?"

Daddy walked in with plastic bags dangling from his hands. "Charlie! I told you to get in the corner! Now get—your ass—in the CORNER!" he yelled the last part, and he looked really mad.

I hurried over to the corner of the living room and stood there facing the wall.

I heard the door opening and closing and more footsteps, then I heard the crackling of plastic bags. Finally the door closed one last time, and I heard quiet talking in the kitchen.

It seemed like I was there in the corner for hours. I had calmed down and didn't feel angry any more. I just wanted to be out of the corner and go be by myself in my room.

"Charlotte Anne," Daddy said in a hard voice, "Come here."

I turned around, and walked over to him. He was standing by the sofa, and he nodded at it. "Sit down."

I sat down and put my hands between my knees, looking up at him.

"I'm very upset by your behavior in the store, little girl," he said, and his voice was that deeper pitch that meant he was still angry, "I can't believe that you actually threw a tantrum like that, just because Uncle Sam wouldn't let you buy a lipstick. After we'd just had a discussion about you being too young to wear make-up!"

"But—it's not faaaaaiiir!" I whined.

"What's not fair?" Daddy frowned.

"Every—everyone else gets to wear some, except me! You—you treat me like I'm a baby!"

"Everyone?" Daddy scoffed, "I don't think so. Your little friends Aubrey and Addison do, but their parents don't exactly have the best judgement about things."

I didn't understand what he meant, and I frowned. "You're just bein' mean to me!"

Daddy shook his head. "I am being your parent, little girl. And if that makes me mean, then that's the way it is."

I stood up. "Fine!" I turned to stomp upstairs.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm goin' to my room, so I can be away from you!" I huffed.

"I don't think so. You're in trouble for that tantrum."

"But—that's not fair either!" I exclaimed.

Daddy sighed and rolled his eyes. "And why isn't it?"

"Be—because Cara didn't get in trouble when she threw a tantrum! Her Mommy didn't even get mad at her!"

"Cara is a three year old who has no impulse control. Throwing tantrums is part of what toddlers do. You, on the other hand, are 8 years old, and throwing a tantrum like you did is just manipulation to get what you want. I expect better behavior from you, Charlie." Daddy crossed his arms and looked sternly at me.

I clenched my fists, getting angry again. I wasn't sure what he was saying, but it didn't sound very fair to me at all. "That—that-"

"You want to wear make-up like a big kid, but then when you're told no, you sit on the floor and kick and yell like a three-year-old? Those two things don't fit together."

"I—you—that's-arrgh!" I surged forward, and shoved at Daddy, anger over-taking me.

He stepped backwards, and grabbed at me. "Hey! Don't you push me!"

I remembered what the older girl had said last night about her father. "You—you-you're just a big dumb old stupidhead!" I shouted, pushing at him again.

"All right, that's—IT," Daddy gritted out, and he took my arms and pulled me towards the sofa.

He sat down, pulling me over his knees, and began to spank me. I was still angry, and I kicked and struggled and yelled.

"Settle down!" he hollered. He pinned my legs under his, and I balled my hands into fists and drummed them on the side of his thigh.

"Oh no you don't, little girl," his voice was hard, and he grabbed my hands and pulled them behind me, holding them against my lower back.

He started to spank me again, his hand falling faster, and harder, this time. I shrieked in anger, still trying to kick.

"You—will—not-throw-tantrums-and-you-will-NOT- call- me—names-" he ground out as he spanked me.

And then his hand was peppering the lowest part of my butt, and it stung a lot, and I burst into tears. I stopped fighting and just cried as Daddy kept spanking me.

My bottom was stinging and throbbing when he let me up and pulled me to a standing position in front of him. "What do you have to say to me?" he demanded.

"I—I'm suh-sorry," I sobbed out, "M' sorry I was b-bad an' had a ta-tantrum an' yelled an' cal—called you n-names."

"All right, come here," he picked me up to sit on his lap, putting his arms around me, and I grabbed onto his flannel and held on, sobbing into his chest. I didn't really know what had made me feel so angry.

My head had started to hurt again. I whimpered as Daddy shifted me.

"What is it, baby?" he asked gently.

"My—head—hurts," I whined.

"I think you're out of sorts today because of last night," he said, "Hey Sam, c'mere!" he called.

Uncle Sam appeared in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Could you bring Charlie some ibuprofen?" Daddy asked him.

"Sure," Uncle Sam went back into the kitchen.

"What d'you mean, out of sorts?" I asked, sniffling.

"Sometimes when a person has had some alcohol, it makes them...not feel good the next morning. I'm wondering if that's part of why you're in a mood."

Uncle Sam walked over to us and handed me a small plastic medicine cup. I drank the liquid from it, and then he handed me a glass of water.

"Drink as much as you can," he said, and I drank half of it down.

"Now, I want you to lay down and rest for a while," Daddy told me, "You don't have to sleep, but just lay quietly in bed. You were up really late last night, too."

He carried me up to my room, and laid me down in bed.

"Daddy, it's January now," I said quietly.

"Yeah, it is," he pulled the covers up to my chest, "it's a new year."

"My, um...my birthday is, y'know, coming up soon."

"Oh, it is? When is it?" he asked.

"January 27th."

"Oh!" he was surprised, "Mine is the 24th!"

"It is?" I was surprised too.

"Yeah, I remember now, your mom told me when your birthday was, but I didn't really think about it at the time," he smiled at me, "We have the same birthday month!"

I felt shy. "Can...can we...I mean, we don't have to, if-"

"What, Charlie?" Daddy took my hand.

"Can we, um, do something...I mean, celebrate...y'know, my, my...birthday?" I blushed, feeling embarrassed.

"Of course we can, honey," Daddy squeezed my hand, "Why are you acting so...shy about it?"

"'Cause before, my mom—she was sick, when it was my birthday an' all, and I didn't get—I mean, she couldn't do anything 'cause she hadda go back an' forth to the treatment center for a while, an' we didn't—we couldn't-" I felt a lump in my throat.

"You didn't celebrate your birthday?" Daddy asked quietly.

I nodded, tears coming to my eyes. "But it's—it's okay, ya know, I mean, my mommy was real sick an' all-" I gulped, trying not to feel upset. I had felt angry when I had realized that there were no plans for my birthday, but then I had gotten upset with myself, because my mommy was so sick, and she needed me to take care of her.

"No, it's not okay...I mean, I know your mom was sick, but still...it was a crappy situation, Charlie, and I'm sorry you had to deal with that," Daddy said.

"No, it- I hadda take care of Mommy, that's what mattered!" I sat up, and then I burst into tears.

"Shh..." Daddy pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, rocking me back and forth slightly. "It's all right, sweetheart. We'll do something for your birthday this year, I promise...we'll figure it out, okay? You think about what you'd like to do, and let me know. All right?" he smoothed my hair back from my face.

"'Kay, Daddy," I sniffled.

"Lay down," he let me go, and I laid down and rolled onto my side.

Daddy sat with me, holding my hand and stroking my hair back from my face, until I fell asleep.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

I stood at the bathroom door, watching Daddy shave his face with the electric razor. My tummy felt all jumbled up with nervous knots.

"How long will you be?" I asked.

"Oh, I don't know," he said casually.

"How far away is it? Does it take a long time to get there?"

"No, it's a couple miles out of town," Daddy turned off the razor and set it on the edge of the sink.

"What time will you be back?" I asked worriedly.

He looked at me. "Charlie, what is with the twenty questions? We're just going out to have a couple beers and play some pool, that's it."

"I—I'm nervous," I admitted, "What if something bad happens?"

"Nothing bad is going to happen, okay? Uncle Sam and me will stick together, and my co-workers are good guys. This place we're going to is nice, it's not a dive or anything."

"What's a dive?" I looked up at him.

He shrugged. "Oh, it's...it's a bar that isn't that nice."

"Have you gone to a dive before?"

He grimaced. "Well...ye—Charlie, I don't really want to talk about that with you. Look, it'll be all right, you'll see. You go out with Grandpa John and have fun, and don't worry about us. I've got to go change."

He left the bathroom, and walked into his room and closed his door.

Daddy and Uncle Sam were going out to a bar tonight, to meet some of Daddy's co-workers and play pool. He and Uncle Sam hadn't gone out like this in a long time, and it made me think about before, when they were going on dates, and all the stuff that had happened.

Plus I just wasn't used to them going out, all of us had spent so much time together recently that it seemed odd that they were leaving me.

Grandpa John was going to take me out to a restaurant to eat, and he had promised me that we could get ice cream afterwards. I was excited when he first told me about it, but now all the worry I was feeling was bigger than my excitement.


	90. Chapter 90

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone out there still reading? Sorry it's taken me so long to update- been busy with doctor appointments, new diagnoses, a head cold that got passed around my family, insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, etc...hope you enjoy!  
> ***********

We were getting ready to leave. "Can I call you later?" I asked Daddy, taking his hand.

"Why do you want to call me?" he frowned slightly.

"Well...just 'cause."

"We're going to be busy, and it'll be loud there, probably," Daddy said.

"Will you call me at bedtime? Pleeease?" I wheedled.

Daddy sighed. "All right, Charlie. Give me a hug."

I hugged him, squeezing him extra tight, and then I hugged Uncle Sam.

"Enjoy your ice cream," he said with a smile.

We all walked outside together. Grandpa John lifted me up into the cab of his truck and I watched as Daddy and Uncle Sam got into the Impala and drove away.

"What's wrong, Charlie? You look upset," Grandpa John said.

"I just- it's been a while since Daddy left in the evening and went somewhere, y'know? I don't—I feel nervous," I admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"Oh. Well, it'll be okay. You'll be safe with me," he started the truck and pulled into the road.

"I know, I just...I'll miss him," I said quietly.

"They'll be home before you know it," Grandpa John reached over and ruffled my hair.

We drove to a big restaurant that I had never seen before. Grandpa John was all smiles when we walked in and sat down- the main dining room had a huge fish tank along one wall, and we got to sit in a booth that was right next to it.

"This is really cool!" I got on my knees and looked into the tank. "Look, there's a lionfish!" I pointed at one.

"I thought you might like this," he said with a grin that showed his dimples. "And look over there," he pointed across the room. There was a long salad bar on one side. "That's not salad, that's a dessert bar. It's got several different kinds of ice cream and lots of toppings to choose from."

"Ooh, can I get three scoops?"

"You can get whatever you want, darlin'."

The waitress came to the table and handed us our menus. "You lookin' at the dessert bar? You know you gotta eat all your dinner and be good," she winked at me.

"Nah, she can get whatever she wants, even if she doesn't eat everything," Grandpa John said to her, "Grandpa says."

She laughed. "And whatever Grandpa says, goes, am I right?"

He nodded, grinning, "You got that right."

"I see, we've got the 'spoil your grand-baby special' right here," she pretended to write something down on her pad, and they both laughed. "What can I get you to drink?"

He ordered coffee and I ordered a Coke, then we opened our menus to decide what to eat.

In a couple of mintues the waitress brought our drinks and we ordered our meals.

"What was Daddy like when he was a kid?" I asked, curious, "He said that when he was Ben's age he was in trouble all the time and you were always smackin' his butt." I giggled a little at that.

Grandpa John thought for a moment. "Your Dad...took care of Sam for me, a lot. Hell, he took care of me too. He was...a good kid." he sighed and as he took a sip of his coffee I could see his eyes get sad.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I..." he sighed again, "I asked a lot of him. Of both of them. Too much, actually."

"What does that mean?" I asked, not understanding.

He shook his head a second time. "Nothing. It's water under the bridge now anyway...Your Dad was really good with his hands, liked to take apart appliances to figure out how they worked and then put 'em back together. I started teaching him about the car's engine when he was pretty young, so he'd stop tinkering with everything. I'd want to make some toast for breakfast, and it would be lying in pieces across the kitchen counter," he chuckled.

"Did he and Uncle Sam always get along?" I asked, thinking about how Ben and I had bickered sometimes.

"Yeah, they did, your Dad was always taking care of Sam, and they watched each other's backs a lot. They had times when they fought, or were snappy with each other, but they always worked it out. Your Dad could always convince Sam to do his training or get him to back down with me."

"What do you mean?"

"Sam and I didn't always see eye-to-eye. When he was younger he'd mouth off to me and argue everything, he'd have made a damn good lawyer if he'd have stayed in college. But he and I...we fought- well, argued a lot when he got older, had our moments, and Dean...he would always get in the middle and try to keep the peace. He wanted us to work things out so that we could work as a family unit."

"When you guys argue, it's scary," I said.

He huffed a laugh. "I know, we're not the best at talking about things...or displaying our emotions. It's something we've all got to work on."

We turned and watched the fish swimming around in the tank. Finally the waitress brought our meals, and we started to eat.

Grandpa John walked over to the dessert bar with me and helped me fix myself a big ice cream sundae.

"This is kinda like the one that Castiel brought me!" I told him when we had sat down.

"He brought you ice cream?" he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, when I was at Missouri's, he said it was called a 'kitchen sink sundae', the bowl was huge!" I laughed at the memory.

"That's interesting, I've never heard of an angel bringing someone ice cream."

"I wonder where he is," I licked my spoon, "We haven't seen him in a while."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing? Since he'd said he was there to protect you. It must mean that things are pretty quiet." He took a drink of his coffee.

"Can we call Daddy when we get home?" I asked.

"Let's see if he calls you first, if he hasn't called by the time you're in bed, I'll give him a call."

Daddy did call me when I was getting ready for bed. There was loud music playing in the background and talking, so he was talking kinda loud. I told him about the fish tank and the ice cream bar, and then we said good night. Grandpa John sat with me after he tucked me into bed, and rubbed my back until I fell asleep.

The next morning I woke up and ran into Daddy's room. He was laying on his tummy with his arms under his pillow. I bounced onto the bed and crawled up to him.

"Hi, Daddy!" I leaned down to kiss his cheek.

"Oooohhh," he groaned, raising his head and opening one eye to look at me. "What's up, Charlie?"

"I wanted to come see you!" I said happily.

"Well, I'm here...lemme sleep some more, 'kay?" his voice sounded hoarse.

"Okay, Daddy," I got off of his bed and went downstairs.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were in the kitchen drinking coffee and looking at Uncle Sam's laptop.

"Good morning!" I said to them.

"There she is!" Grandpa John said, like always. I went over to Uncle Sam and hugged him. "Did you guys have fun?" I asked him.

"Yeah, we did. We got a little job," he looked down at me and smoothed my hair back from my face.

"What job?"

"One of Dean's co-workers has a property that he thinks is haunted, so we're going to go and check it out," Uncle Sam told me.

"Ooh, can I go too?" I asked.

"No, Charlie," Uncle Sam gave me a look, "We're going to go to the library this afternoon and look up some of the history of the house. They have local historical documents stored there."

After Daddy woke up and showered, we ate an early lunch and then went to the library with Uncle Sam.

"I'll take you to get some books, and then I need you to sit quietly while we're working," Daddy told me as we walked into the building.

In the children's section, there were a bunch of younger kids hanging around and playing. I saw Macy, and then Stella off to the side. Macy ran up to me. "Are you here for Saturday Story Time?" she asked.

"Uh, no, what is that?" we walked over to where her mom was.

"Oh, hi, what was your name again?" she asked Daddy.

"Dean," he offered his hand, and they shook.

"That's right, I'm sorry, I'm not good with names," she blushed.

"Tell her about storytime!" Macy said.

"On Saturdays they have a kid's program, where a librarian reads a couple of books to the kids, and they sing songs and the like. It's more for younger kids, though."

"Wanna come with us?" Macy asked.

I looked up at Daddy. "Can I?"

"Sure," he said, "I'll be in the main part of the library, if that's okay?"

Stella nodded. "I'll keep an eye on her. Is...is Sam with you?"

"Yeah, he is," Daddy said casually.

"Okay, it's about half an hour, 40 minutes, and then we come back to the kid's section and play for a while. So just look for us in here," Stella said.

"All right, thanks," Daddy leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "See you in a while, Charlie, be good."

"Okay, Daddy," I said.

I walked over to the climbing structure and stood there watching. It was mostly little kids and toddlers. In a few minutes, a lady came in. "All right, it's Saturday Story Time. Who wants to hear a story?"

We followed her into a room off of the lobby and kids started to sit down on the floor.

"Me sit wif Taw-ee," Cara said, and she plunked herself down in my lap. Macy sat on the floor next to us. Stella walked to the back of the room where the other moms were standing.

The librarian read a picture book, and then she she had everyone sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" a couple times. Then she read a book about a kangaroo with two babies in its pouch, and afterwards everyone had to stand up and she sang a song about different kinds of jumping. A lot of the kids were singing the song, too, and doing all the jumps, which was funny. Everyone sat down again and she read two more picture books, and then sang another couple of songs. Most of the little kids that were there sang along.

"We come here every week for Story Time, so we know all the songs," Macy told me.

When Story Time was finished, went back out to the kid's area, and Macy led me over to a huge dollhouse. It made me think of the dollhouse that I had had when I lived with my mom, and I felt a little sad. This house was almost as tall as me, and had two sides open, with lots of rooms on each side. There were a few kids on each side playing with stuff.

Macy and I picked up a couple of the kid dolls and played with the other kids that were there. One of the kids kept saying they wanted it to be the night before Christmas, and trying to get everyone to put their dolls to bed. Another boy kept talking about there being a scary monster guy with claws for hands that was coming to get everyone. A girl that was sitting next to him kept saying, "That's just a dumb movie, it's not real!"

Stella came over to us. "It's about time for us to go," she said, "Cara's getting hungry."

"We get lunch at McDonald's afterwards, wanna go?" Macy asked me.

"Um, I have to ask my Daddy," I told her as we walked out to the main part of the library.

Uncle Sam was walking away from the Reference Desk with a notebook in his hand.

He walked up to us. "How's it going?" he asked.

"We're going to go to McDonald's for lunch, would you like to join us?" Stella asked him. Her face got a little red. "You and Charlie, I mean."

"Uh, sure, let me check with Dean," Sam smiled at her, "C'mon, Charlie, come with me, and we'lll ask him if he wants to come too. We'll meet you over there," he said to Stella.

I followed Uncle Sam downstairs to a big room that had lots of dark wooden shelves and rows of old looking, big books. Daddy was sitting at a table with a couple of books opened in front of him.

"We got invited to go to McDonald's with Stella and her girls," Uncle Sam told him, "Want to go?"

"Nah, you go, I want to keep working, make sure I find out everything I can about this house. I'll finish up here, you can come pick me up on the way back," Daddy said.

I leaned over and hugged him, and he kissed the top of my head. "Behave yourself," he said to me.

Macy and Cara were in the kid's play area with their mom when we got to the McDonald's. There were a few kids running around when Uncle Sam and I joined them. Macy was just finishing up her food when we sat down.

"I wanna go play," she said.

"Me too!" Cara exclaimed as Macy got down from her seat.

"No, Cara, I want you to eat two more nuggets, and then you can go play," Stella said.

"No, Mommy, me go pay wif May-May!" Cara folded her arms over her chest and pouted. When we sat down, she stared at Uncle Sam.

After a moment, Uncle Sam noticed. "Uh, hi," he said to her.

Cara grabbed at her mom's hand. Stella chuckled. "It's okay, honey," she said.

Uncle Sam opened a couple of ketchup packets for me and squirted them onto my burger wrapper, for my french fries. Then he opened his salad container and gave me the cucumbers from his salad.

Cara was watching us. She pointed at Uncle Sam and said to me, "Daddy?"

"No, he's not my Daddy, he's my Uncle," I told her.

Cara watched us as we began to eat, and she ate one of her nuggets.

Macy came running over to the table. "Charlie, are you done yet? Come an' play!"

I looked over at uncle Sam. "Can I go and play with Macy? I'll eat the rest of my food later, I promise!"

"Go ahead," he said.

I got off the chair and took my shoes off. As I walked away I heard Stella ask, "So, what were you doing at the library?"

Macy and I climbed up to the top of the play area and went down the slide a couple of times, and then Cara joined us. We had to help her climb up to the top because she was scared. She was okay while we were in the top part, and then a couple of boys came in with us. They were being loud and jumping around, and kept bumping into us.

"Let's go down the slide, away from them," I said to Macy.

"C'mon, Cara, let's go," Macy took Cara's hand and led her over to the slide.

"Where go?" Cara asked.

"We're gonna go down the slide."

Cara peered at the entrance to the slide. It was high off the ground, and went in a curlicue shape, so you couldn't see the bottom. "Downa side?" Cara looked at the slide, then she shook her head and tried to pull away. "Uh-uh."

"It's just like the noodle slide at the playground, Cara, it's okay!" Macy said.

One of the boys bounded over and knocked into me.

"Cut it out!" I said loudly, pushing at him.

"Hey, don't push me!" he shouted.

"Quit bumping into us!" I shouted back.

"You gonna go down the slide or what?" another, bigger boy came over to us.

"Go 'way!" Cara snapped at him.

"Aw, shut up, ya baby!" the boy sneered at her, "What, are you scared?"

"Leave us alone!" Macy shouted, stepping towards him with her fists clenched.

"Or what?" he stepped closer to us. Cara grabbed ahold of Macy's and my arms. She looked scared.

"We were here first, stop bein' mean! You go over there an' play over there!" I said to the bigger boy.

"We wanna go down the slide an' you're in the way! Now either go down, or move it!" the boy snapped.

"You're not the boss of us!" Macy said, and Cara chimed in, "Yeah, you not a boss!"

The boy got an angry look on his face, and he shoved Macy and Cara backwards. Cara lost her balance and fell onto her back with a loud yelp, pulling me and Macy over with her. Macy bumped into me as she fell and I fell forward, and all three of us started to go down the slide, tumbling over each other. Cara screamed in fear and burst into tears. One of the boys was right behind us, and his feet swung out and kicked the side of my head.

All of us landed in a heap at the bottom of the slide. Cara's face was red and shiny with tears. Macy's lip was bleeding and she was crying. The side of my head was throbbing.

We sat up, and Stella hurried over to us. "What happened?" she asked.

One of the other boys came down the slide just then.

I stood up and pointed. "They came in after us and were jumping around an' kept bothering us and banging into us an' then they were bein' mean, and he—he pushed Cara and she fell, and bumped into us so we all fell!" I pointed at the taller boy.

Another woman had come over to stand next to Stella.

"He—his foot kicked-ded my mouth, Mommy!" Macy wailed, pointing at the boy who had come down the slide behind us.

"And he kicked my head!" I exclaimed.

"How many times have I told you boys not to rough-house up there?" the other woman said to the boys. "Apologize for hurting these little girls!"

The boys muttered, "Sorry," and trudged away from us.

Uncle Sam came over and leaned down to me. "Let me check your head," he said, looking at it and feeling my scalp. "No bump, that's good. Does it still hurt?"

I nodded, and threw my arms around his waist. "It was scary!" I said, "We were all falling together!"

Uncle Sam put his arm around my shoulders and patted me. "I bet it was."

Stella picked Cara up and then leaned over and picked Macy up. They were both crying. We all walked back to the table, and Uncle Sam handed Stella some napkins for Macy since her lip was still bleeding slightly.

"It looks like her lip banged against one of her teeth, that's all, there's nothing loose," Stella said after she checked Macy's mouth.

Uncle Sam sat down and I got into his lap.

Cara was leaning on Stella's chest and sniffling. Then she looked up and said, "Mommy, poopy."

"Oh, do you have to go?" Stella asked.

"Gotta go!" Cara said urgently.

"All right, Macy, get down, do you want to come with us?" Stella asked as she set the girls on the floor.

"No, I wanna stay here," Macy said shyly, "Charlie, can I sit with you?"

I looked up at Uncle Sam. "Oh, uh, sure," he said, looking down at us. He shifted me onto one leg and held his arm out, and Macy climbed up onto his other leg.

"Boys is mean," she said.

"Sometimes. Sometimes girls are mean too," I said.

"Let me check your lip," Uncle Sam said to Macy. She let him remove the napkin and he looked at her face. "The bleeding has stopped."

When Stella came back to the table, Cara was all cuddled into her shoulder, looking sleepy.

"I think we've had enough excitement for one day," Stella said, "How's the lip?"

"It stopped bleeding," Uncle Sam told her.

"Let's clean up, and then go home and rest," Stella looked at Macy.

"Go ahead and go, we'll take care of this," Uncle Sam told her with a smile.

Macy and I got off of Uncle Sam's lap and he stood up. Macy put her shoes on and picked up Cara's shoes, and Stella grabbed the tote bag she had.

"Bye," Macy said to me.

"Bye Taw-ee, bye Unca!" Cara waved over Stella's shoulder as they left.

Uncle Sam chuckled as he cleaned up the trash. I sat down to finish my hamburger.

"You doing okay?" Uncle sam asked after he came back from the trash can.

"Yeah, I'm done now." I gathered up my trash and threw it away. Uncle Sam texted Daddy to let him know that we were coming back to the library.

Daddy met us on the front steps.

"Guess what, Daddy, I got kicked in the head!" I told him as he got into the car.

He turned to face me. "What?"

I told him what had happened and he shook his head. "Sounds like those kids were too big to be in that play area."

"Macy ended up sitting with me while Stella took Cara to the bathroom," Uncle Sam told him.

"And then Cara said good-bye to Uncle Sam! I guess she's not scared of him any more!" I laughed.

"Aw, Sam, you're winning all the ladies over," Daddy teased him.

"Well, I'm glad, it was weird that Cara was so scared of me, I'm not used to that." Uncle Sam said.

I told them about the reading program and playing with the doll house in the library as we drove home.

When we got home, Daddy and Uncle Sam got onto the laptop and looked at their notes, and then Daddy brought one of his duffles in from the car. I watched him fill shotgun shells with salt for a while, and then I went to play in my room.

The next day was Sunday. Daddy and Uncle Sam left before lunch, to go to the house that they thought was haunted. They were going to be there all day long and possibly into the evening.

Grandpa John sat down on the sofa and turned on the t.v. to a baseball game. I sat down with him and tried to watch, but I got bored. I could never get the hang of all the rules of baseball.

"Can I go ride my bike outside?" I asked him. The weather had gotten warmer and all the snow from New Year's Even had melted.

"Sure, just stay on the sidewalk and don't go too far away," he said. He got up and we went to where my bike was stored in the laundry room. There was a door on the side that opened into the back yard, and I had to walk my bike out to the front.

He handed me my helmet and pads and walked the bike up the driveway for me.

"All right, be careful," he said, and went into the house.

I saw some of the older boys riding their skateboards in the road. After Grandpa John went inside, I dropped the helmet and pads on the ground by the porch steps, and climbed onto my bike to ride it.

Several minutes later Grandpa John came out onto the porch. "I just wanted to check on you, make sure you're doing okay," he said, "How come you're not wearing your safety gear?"

I pedaled up the sidewalk and stopped. "Oh, uh, Uncle Sam said if I'm just riding back and forth like this I didn't have to wear it," I tried to look innocent.

"Huh," he said after a moment, "Well, I think you should at least put your helmet on."

"Okay," I agreed. He turned and went back inside, and I turned my bike around and pedaled it back up the sidewalk.

I saw Addison and her mom getting out of their car, and rode over to say hi.

"I got a haircut today, and we got manicures after!" Addi held her hand out and showed me her nails. They were a bright pink with little yellow and white flowers painted on them.

"That's pretty," I said.

"Yeah, and we got some more nail polish. You wanna come in and I'll paint your nails?"

"Oh, I can't, I have to go ask," I said.

"You need to finish your reading project before you do anything else," Addison's mom said to her.

Addison rolled her eyes. "I got the whole rest of the day to do that, Mom, gosh," she said in a snotty voice.

"Well, I'm telling you I want it done now," her mom said sternly, "Let's go inside, now."

Addison rolled her eyes again. "Fine!" she turned and stomped into the house.

I turned my bike around and started to pedal back to our house just as Grandpa John was calling to me.

He was standing on the edge of the steps. "Charlie, your Dad's on the phone, wants to talk to you," he said abruptly.

I pulled my bike up close to the porch and then climbed off of it and went inside.

"-all right, here she is, I'll put it on speaker," Grandpa John held the phone up as I walked over to him.

"Hi Daddy, did you find a ghost?" I asked.

"We stopped to get a late lunch," he said, "Charlotte Anne Winchester, why are you riding your bike without your helmet and safety pads?"


	91. Chapter 91

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm including the last couple of sentences from the last chapter, as a re-cap. Oh dear Charlie! She's really gotten into trouble this time!  
> *************

I pulled my bike up close to the porch and then climbed off of it and went inside.

"-all right, here she is, I'll put it on speaker," Grandpa John held the phone up as I walked over to him.

"Hi Daddy, did you find a ghost?" I asked.

"We stopped to get a late lunch," he said, "Charlotte Anne Winchester, why are you riding your bike without your helmet and safety pads?"

"Oh, uh-" I looked up at Grandpa John, and my tummy clenched with nerves. He was watching me with a stern look on his face.

"Did you tell Grandpa John that Uncle Sam said you didn't need to wear your safety gear?" Daddy's voice was hard.

"Um, I—yeah," I said quietly, feeling myself start to blush. I stared down at the floor.

"Little girl, why would you do that? I was going to let you stop wearing the pads after you've stopped using the training wheels, but you always need to wear your helmet. That'n non-negotiable, and I think we told you that when you first started riding."

I toed the floor in front of me. "Sorry," I mumbled.

"Well, sorry doesn't cut it. I'm upset with you, Charlie, and so is Uncle Sam. That was dangerous of you to go riding without your gear on."

"And then when I told her to put her helmet on, she said okay, but she still didn't put it on," Grandpa John said.

"What?!" Daddy sounded shocked, "Charlotte Anne!" he said angrily, "What the he-you—I can't believe this!"

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Uncle Sam piped up. He sounded just as angry as Daddy.

I gulped, feeling my face get hotter. "Dunno," I whispered.

"Dunno is not an answer," Daddy's voice was still hard, "We're going to have a discussion about all this tomorrow."

"Uh—a discussion?" I asked hesitantly, "Do you mean—are you-" I squirmed with embarassment. Sometimes when Daddy said a 'discussion' he meant a spanking.

"You mean am I going to spank you? Grandpa John is the one that you lied to, so I think it's up to him to punish you, however he sees fit."

I looked up at Grandpa John in shock.

"I—Are you gonna-" I gulped, and tears filled my eyes.

"Not only did you break a rule about wearing your safety gear, you flat out lied to me about it, and in doing so, you put yourself in danger. And then you didn't listen to me when I told you to put your helmet on. You have earned yourself a spanking, little girl," now Grandpa John's voice was stern.

"But—but-" I sputtered.

"No excuses, Charlie—you deliberately made those choices, and now you have to deal with the consequences of your choices. Maybe a spanking from your grandfather will get you to take this seriously," Daddy said, "And you'd better behave for the rest of the day, or else you will be getting a spanking from me when I get home. Is that clear?"

"Yes Daddy," I said glumly.

"All right, we have to go. I'll try to call or text you at bedtime."

"Okay...bye."

Grandpa John hung up the phone and put it into his pocket. I looked up at him and swallowed, my mouth going dry. He took my wrist and led me over to the sofa.

"I'm sorry—please-" I dragged my feet as I walked, not wanting this to happen.

He sat down on the edge of the sofa. "I'm sure that you're sorry, but I'm still going to give you a spanking."

Tears came to my eyes again as he pulled me to his right side, He had to lift me up to put me over his knees, just like Uncle Sam did. He put his hand on my lower back, and then he began to spank me. I burst into tears and started to struggle and kick. I couldn't believe that Grandpa John was spanking me!

His hands were big like Uncle Sam's, so after just a few swats, my whole rear end was stinging. After landing several more swats, he paused to reach under me and undid the button on my jeans. I screeched and tried to wriggle off of his lap as he pulled them down. "Nooo!"

"Did you lie to me?" he asked sternly, adjusting my position over his lap.

"Y-yes," I admitted, sniffling.

"Not only that, you did something dangerous, and you could have gotten injured," he finished pulling my pants down and then he tugged my panties down as well.

I cried out as his hand began to fall on my bare bottom. "Owww! Gr-gran—pa—pleeeeease! Nooo!"

He peppered my rear end with sharp swats and I kicked my feet some more and howled as he landed a few on the lowest part of my butt.

"You gonna listen to me, and do what I tell you from now on? Keep yourself safe?" he asked.

"Y-yes, Gr-granpa J-John," I heaved out. I didn't want him to spank me ever again!

"You gonna lie to me again?"

"N-no, m's-sorry!"

He pulled my panties up over my stinging butt. "Then come here," he lifted me up into his arms and held me tightly against his chest. I buried my face in his flannel shoulder and cried.

"All right, it's over now, shh," he soothed, rubbing the back of my head.

"M'sorry I w-was b-bad," my chest hitched as I turned my head and leaned on his chest.

"Shh, you're not bad, you just make bad choices sometimes, and misbehave. You're a good girl," he shifted me and began to rub my back.

I stayed snuggled in his arms until I was calm, and then he set me on the floor and helped me pull my jeans up. I winced as the rough fabric rubbed against my sore rear end.

He stood up. "Let's put your bike away."

"Yes, Grandpa John," I followed him outside and picked up my helmet and pads, and he carried my bike around to the back. We went into the door that led into the laundry room and I hung the safety gear from the handlebars.

"I'm going to be doing some research on my laptop, what are you going to do?" he asked me.

"Um, I guess I'll go play in my room," I said. I still couldn't play my 3DS or my Kindle, and now I was probably going to be grounded from riding my bike too. Playing in my room was pretty much the only thing left for me unless I wanted to do schoolwork. Which I didn't want to do.

I went upstairs and played with my figurines, but it seemed boring. I thought about the dollhouse at the library and how I missed my dollhouse.

I tried to build some rooms by propping some of my books on top of each other, but it didn't work very well and I kept knocking them over. Eventually I just picked up a book and laid on my bed on my tummy and read.

I woke up when there was a knock on the door. I had fallen asleep with my head on the book. Grandpa John leaned into the room. "I made dinner for us, darlin'."

I got up and shuffled downstairs after him, rubbing my eyes sleepily. He had made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

"Your Dad texted me, he won't be able to call later," Grandpa John showed me his phone.

The text read, "Confirmation of ghost, now we have to find out where the remains are located. Three cemeteries we have to look at—will be busy til late. Tell Charlie goodnight, and I love her."

I sighed, "O-kaay."

I helped Grandpa John clean up the dishes after we ate, and then we watched a movie together.

He came into my room at bedtime, to tuck me in, and sat down on the edge of my bed.

"You nervous about your Dad being away, still?"

I nodded.

"It'll be fine, Charlie, you'll see," he took my hands and held them in his. I got a flash of seeing just then, but it was knowing, what his emotions were. I saw a flash of rolling flames on a ceiling, and felt Grandpa John's fear, and then I saw an image of me riding my bike without my safety gear on, and felt fear again, but not as strong. Then I felt his anger, mixed with a little sadness.

My hands jerked by themselves, and he frowned slightly. "Did you just—see inside my head?" he asked.

"Yes, but—I didn't do it on purpose, I swear!" I said quickly.

"What did you see?"

"You—you got scared, and now you're—you're mad at me!" tears came to my eyes again.

"No, Charlie, I'm not. When I asked your Dad why you didn't have to wear your safety gear anymore and we realized you'd lied to me, I was angry. I am disappointed that you thought it was okay to lie to me, but I'm not mad now."

I gulped as the tears spilled over and started to drip down my cheeks. I didn't like it when one of them said they were disappointed with me. "M' sorry!" I wailed, "I don't know why—I—did-it!" My chest was hitching with sobs all of a sudden, and Grandpa John pulled me onto his lap and put his arms around me.

I looked up at him. "Why were you sad too?"

He shifted. "Well, I don't like having to punish you, but I know it has to be done. Misbehavior has to have a consequence so that you learn to do the right thing. Doesn't mean I'm happy about doling out the consequence."

The thought that he was upset about giving me a spanking made me feel guilty, and I cried harder.

"Shh, you're all right," he soothed, "You need to realize that the rules are not going to change, no matter what. We're going to be here for you, and even if you push back, things will stay the same."

I didn't really understand what he meant, but I felt better somehow, when he said that things would stay the same. Having Daddy and Uncle Sam go out hunting again had reminded me of when they were trying to find the creature that had killed my mom, and how scared I had been.

I snuggled into him. "Will you stay here with me 'til I fall asleep?" I asked.

"Of course, sweetheart." He brushed my hair back from my face, and kept smoothing it back in the same motion over and over again, until I started to relax. Then he helped me get under the covers and told me to roll over. The last thing I felt before I fell asleep was him rubbing my back.

"Charlie," I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Charlie, wake up."

I rolled over and opened my eyes. Daddy was sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I wanted to say good-bye, I have to leave for work soon. You're usually up by now."

I sat up and threw my arms around him. He hugged me back, resting his chin on my head.

"M'sorry I was bad yesterday, Daddy, are you—are you gonna spank me too?" I looked up at him.

"You can stop with the puppy-dog eyes, I'm not going to spank you, although I should," he pushed my hair out of my face, "You're going to be writing lines for Uncle Sam."

"Aww, I hate writing lines!" I grumped, letting go of him.

"Would you rather have a spanking, then?" he raised his eyebrows at me.

"No!"

"Then no complaining. You should feel lucky that Uncle Sam and I are not both spanking you for the helmet issue. We talked about it, you know. Because it's something that we've both discussed with you before, and it's a safety issue."

I blushed and looked down at the bed.

"Charlie, I'm not sure what's going on with you, but you can't keep flaunting the rules like this. We've always expected you to act a certain way, and no matter who you become friends with, we expect you to keep behaving like you always do. You're a good girl, and you have a good heart, and you know to do the right thing. Don't let other people influence how you act just because it's something new and different."

I looked up at him. "I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are, even if you don't realize it. Everyone does it to an extent, we start to pick up the behaviors of the people around us. You just have to be aware of when that behavior is not like how you normally behave. I want you to continue to be my sweet girl." Daddy cupped my cheek with his hand and smiled at me.

"Okay, Daddy," I got out from under the covers and sat on his lap. He took me in his arms and stood up. "I've got to get going."

He carried me downstairs to the kitchen and set me in a chair at the table.

Uncle Sam was rinsing out a bowl at the sink. "Hey, you want some oatmeal, Charlie?"

"I guess," I yawned, "Did you guys get rid of the ghost?"

Uncle Sam turned and shared a look with Daddy. "Yeah, we did," Daddy said slowly, "But you don't need to know about it."

"But I'm curious! I think it's neat!"

"Well, it's still nothing you need to concern yourself with, so don't ask anything more. You don't need to know about hunting," Daddy poured coffee into a travel mug and put the lid on. He came over to me and leaned down to drop a kiss on my head. "Be good, today, Charlie. See you tonight."

"Bye, Daddy," I put my arm around him as he hugged my shoulders.

Uncle Sam heated up water in the microwave and fixed a bowl of oatmeal for me, then sat down at the table next to me while I ate.

"I've got lines for you to write, after we get done with your schoolwork," he told me.

"I know, Daddy already told me," I said sulkily.

"Hey, don't get all pouty, you got yourself into this. Hopefully writing lines will help you remember to behave and do the right thing."

I huffed, and he said, "All right, that's enough. Finish your breakfast so we can get started on your school work."

25\. I will follow the rules and do what I'm told.

26\. I will always wear my helmet and any gear that I am supposed to wear.

27\. I will not do anything that is dangerous.

28\. I will not tell lies.

29\. I will follow the rules and do what I'm told.

30\. I will always wear my helmet and any gear that I am supposed to wear.

31\. I will not do anything that is dangerous.

32\. I will not tell lies.

33\. I will follow the rules and do what I'm told.

34\. I will always wear my helmet and any gear that I am supposed to wear.

35\. I will not do anything that is dangerous.

36\. I will not tell lies.

I turned in my chair. "Uncle Saaaam," I whined, "Can't I take a break? I wanted to play outside today!"

"How many lines have you written?" he asked. He was sitting on the sofa in the living room, doing something on his laptop.

I glanced at the paper. "Uh, 36."

"No, I want you to get it all finished today." I heard the computer keys clicking.

"But- one hundred lines is too much!" I protested.

"No it's not. And it can be your writing practice."

"But the weather's nice today! I should get to play outside today 'cause it's warm and sunny! I need sun, y'know!"

He chuckled. "What, are you a plant? Should I water you and give you some Miracle-Gro too?"

I got mad. "Shut up!" I snapped, throwing my pencil down and shoving the paper away from me.

Uncle Sam sat up straight and stared at me. "Hey, watch it," he said warningly, "You want to add 'I will not be rude or disrespectful to my family' to the lines you're writing?"

"This isn't fair!" I kicked the rungs of my chair in frustration.

"Settle down, young lady-"

"I am settled!" I yelled, interrupting him.

In about three seconds flat he was behind me, pulling the chair out from under the desk. "Enough. You're gearing up for a tantrum. Time out, go stand in the corner and cool off."

I looked up at him in disbelief. He'd never sent me to the corner like this! "Wh-what? No!"

Uncle Sam took my arm and stood me up. "Charlie, you need a break to calm down so that you don't get yourself in more trouble. And I need a break to calm down too."

I looked up at him. He had the same look on his face as he had when he and Daddy argued- brows together, cheeks red, jaw set.

"I don't wanna stand in the corner!" I said stubbornly.

He took my shoulders in his hands and steered me over to the corner of the dining room. I dragged my feet as we walked, and he swatted my butt once I was facing the walls.

"You will stay here until I call you out," he said firmly, "Is that clear?"

"Yes, Uncle Sam," I said grumpily, rubbing my bottom.

I heard his footsteps walking away.

I didn't cool off, I stayed mad. I didn't want to be here, standing in the corner. I didn't want to be stuck inside writing line after dumb line of the same thing over and over, when I could be outside playing with the neighborhood kids. I had already been spanked, why did Uncle Sam have to give me more of a punishment? It wasn't right of him to do that, and it wasn't fair either!

I heard Grandpa John come into the room, and he and Uncle Sam started talking quietly.

After about a million and a half minutes, Uncle Sam said, "Come here, Charlie."

I turned and trudged over to him, standing on the other side of the coffee table.

"What do you have to say to me?" he asked.

"It's not fair that you give me more stuff to do for a punishment when I already got a spanking!" I blurted.

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? That was the wrong answer, by the way. You were supposed to apologize to me for telling me to shut up. And yes, it is fair that I give you more to do, because I'm trying to get you to learn from your mistakes so that you don't do it again!" His voice had gotten louder as he talked, and was almost a shout by the end.

"I really don't understand what's going on with you, Charlie. Nothing has changed with us, so I don't get why you're still pushing boundaries. And you lying about using your helmet is kind of the last straw for me. You want really firm limits and rules? Because I'm about ready to give them to you. And if you're not happy about writing lines, I can guarantee that you'll like all the rules I give you even less." Uncle Sam's voice had deepened like Daddy's did when he got really angry, and it made me nervous.

He waited a long moment, and then said, "Well?"

I toed the rug with my socked foot. "Uh, I—I don't want more rules."

He sighed angrily. "Have you even been listening to what I've been saying?" he shook his head. "Go finish your lines, and think about what I've said."

"Wait," Grandpa John said, "You need to apologize to your uncle, young lady. Not only does he prepare your schoolwork and teach you, he takes care of you every day, and that includes correcting your behavior when you've misbehaved. And you're giving him grief and telling him to shut up? None of us are going to tolerate that blatant disrespect, and if it continues, you're going to be spending a lot of time looking at the floor over someone's knee."

I swallowed nervously—I didn't want Grandpa John to spank me again!

He took a step towards me, and I said, "Sorry, Uncle Sam."

"Show me that you're sorry by changing your behavior," he said, and then he nodded at me.

I walked back over to the desk and sat down, picking up my pencil and starting to write again. It took me until dinnertime to finish my lines. Daddy called to say that he was staying late at work because they were having a staff meeting.

When we finished eating, I asked, "Can I go outside now?"

"All right," Uncle Sam agreed, "If your friends are outside, you can play with them, but no bike, and no going into anyone's house."

I put my shoes on and ran outside. There were a bunch of kids running around near Addison's house, so I joined them.

"We're playing freeze tag!" Addison said, "Hey, tomorrow, Franny's coming home!"

"Who's that?" I asked.

"She's our next-door neighbor. She was in the hospital for a long time. Her parents are gonna have a celebration tomorrow after everyone gets home from school, on the front lawn!"

"Okay, I'll ask if I can go."

Addi gave me a look. "Why do you gotta ask about everything? Don't you get to do what you want?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I have to ask permission for stuff, don't you?"

She shrugged. "Not really. Mom tells us to go play outside, but she doesn't care where we go. We can do stuff without asking about every little thing."

"My Daddy wants me to be careful, I guess," I said.

She made a face. "Why do you call him 'Daddy'? Only little kids say mommy and daddy."

I shrugged. "Dunno."

I saw the Impala turn the corner and come to a stop in front of our house. I turned. "I gotta go, my, uh, my Dad's home!"

"Okay, bye!" a couple kids called.

I skipped down the sidewalk, and by the time I got inside, Daddy was in the kitchen talking to Uncle Sam.

"Hi Dad!" I said, running up to him and throwing my arms around his waist.

He put his arm around me.

"-did apologize, after Dad talked to her about it," Uncle Sam was saying.

Daddy looked down at me. "You told Uncle Sam to shut up and argued with him? And almost threw a tantrum? You need to seriously think about how you're acting, little girl, because I'm not going to put up with this kind of crap much longer. Got it?"

I let go of him and stepped backwards, in case he was going to swat me. "Uh, yes, Dad," I mumbled.

"What's with the 'dad'?" he asked, walking over to the microwave and removing a plate.

The cooking contest show that I liked to watch was on, so I sat down in the living room to watch it. Uncle Sam and Daddy sat with me too.

"Tomorrow there's supposed to be a party for one of the kids, can I go?" I asked during a commercial.

"A party? For who?" Daddy asked.

"Um, Addi's next door neighbor, a girl named Franny. Addi said that she'd been in the hospital for a long time. Her parents are gonna have a thing in their front yard."

"If you get all your work done," Uncle Sam said.

"And if you behave yourself," Daddy added, "No sassing, no attitude, no disobeying."

He nudged me, looking down at me. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, Daddy." I decided that I liked calling him Daddy.

Grandpa John came into the living room. "Bobby's going to be calling in a few, he needs our advice on something."

"All right," Uncle Sam stood up and started to follow him back to his rooms.

"Go get ready for bed, and we'll be up in a few minutes to say good night," Daddy turned off the t.v. "And brush your teeth!" he called after me as I went upstairs.


	92. Chapter 92

We were running around in the yard playing Freeze Tag. Franny ran up to one of the boys and touched him, shouting, "Petrificus Totalus!"

I stopped. "Hey, you like Harry Potter?" I asked.

She beamed at me. "Yeah, I love it!"

"Cool!" I started running again.

Franny's mom came over to us. "Franny, I want you to take a break now. Come and have a drink."

"Aww Mom!" she complained, but she jogged over to her mom. "Someone else has to be It."

"I'll be It!" a boy named Tim said.

I followed Franny over to the chairs, and she sat down in one. Her mom handed her a juice box.

"Have you read all the books?" I asked Franny.

"Yeah, when I was in the hospital I listened to the audiobooks while I was getting my treatments. And then I watched the movies at home." She took a drink.

"I haven't seen all the movies yet, but I read all the books. Who's your favorite character?" I asked.

"Hermione, of course!"

"Yeah!" I held my hand up and she high-fived me. We grinned at each other.

Franny was Addi's next door neighbor. She had been in the hospital last year, being treated for a kind of cancer. She had gotten pneumonia recently and had to go back into the hospital for a while. There were a lot of people on the front lawn, talking, and a lot of kids running around playing. When Daddy had gotten home from work, he had walked over, and he and Uncle Sam had been talking to Franny's dad.

I walked over to the table where all the food was set out and got myself a juice box. As I started to walk over to Franny, I saw Macy and Cara running up the sidewalk, followed by their mom.

"Fanny!" Cara exclaimed, coming over to Franny. Macy was holding a gift bag, and she handed it to Franny. "Welcome home!" Macy grinned.

I saw Stella go over to Franny's mom and they hugged.

"Thanks, Mace!" Franny took the bag from her. "How are you?"

"M'okay. You gotta come to our house an' do art with me, I got a easel for Christmas!" Macy said.

"Okay!" Franny replied with a smile.

Cara was looking over at the table with all the food on it. "Go ask your mom if you can have some, there's M&M cookies," Franny told her.

Cara's eyes lit up. "Emmy tookies!" she grabbed Macy's hand, and they ran over to her mom. Cara started to yank on her mom's pants.

Franny laughed. "She's so funny." Stella looked over at us and waved, and Franny waved and called, "Hi Aunt Stella!" She looked at me. "She's not really my aunt, but her and my mom went to college together, so it's like she is my aunt, y'know?"

"That's neat. She's nice," I said.

Addi came over to us. "Hey Franny, want to go into my house and do makeup?"

"No, my mom doesn't want me to do any of that because of the smells. I had a bad reaction to a chemical smell at the hospital and she wants me to be careful of anything that's strong smelling."

"Make-up doesn't smell that bad!" Addi made a face.

"Some of it does, and my mom said no, so I can't," Franny told her.

"Okay, fine," Addi huffed and then walked away.

Franny rolled her eyes. "Addi and her sister can be kinda obnoxious sometimes, their parents give them whatever they want and they think that everyone is going to do that. You just gotta tell them no."

"Yeah," I didn't think I should say anything else about it.

A couple other people came over and gave Franny presents, and then her mom came over to us and said that she could open them.

A bunch of kids came over and watched her open her presents. Franny's Dad went inside for a while and then came out with a big tray of hot dogs for people who wanted it.

Daddy came over to me and said that we should go home and have dinner there, so I said good bye to everyone and we walked back to our house with Uncle Sam.

When we got inside, Daddy went to change his clothes and I set the table. Uncle Sam started a big pot of water to make pasta.

Daddy came into the kitchen and scooped me up into a tight hug. "What're you doing, Daddy?" I gasped.

He kissed the side of my head. "We were talking to Franny's Dad about what it's like to have a kid in the hospital, and I just...it brought back memories of when you were—in the hospital. I'm just so thankful that everything worked out with you, and you're okay now." He hugged me tightly again.

"Me too, Daddy. Franny seems nice. She likes Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, her parents seem pretty nice too. I hope you can get a chance to hang out with her." Daddy sat down and put me in his lap.

I started to get down and he stopped me. "I just want to hold you for a few minutes, Charlie, okay?" he asked. I looked at him, he looked a little bit sad.

"Okay," I agreed, and leaned back against him. He stroked my hair back from my face and rubbed my back as he and Uncle Sam talked.

When we sat down to eat, Uncle Sam said, "Tomorrow, Macy and Cara are coming over in the afternoon."

"They are? Why?" I asked.

"Stella has some meeting for court or something, and it's in the afternoon, when her girls are at home. After she picks them up from preschool and gives them lunch, they'll come here. It should only be for a couple of hours," Uncle Sam explained.

"Court? Everything okay?" Daddy raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, something about the separation agreement with her husband, they have to update something."

"Glad I never had to deal with any of that," Daddy shook his head. He looked at me. "Well, that should be interesting, having them come here. Make sure your room is clean."

"Okay, Daddy," I agreed.

After dinner, I straightened all my figurines and put my books away, and then I took a bath. I watched one of my cooking contest shows with Daddy and Uncle Sam, and then went to bed.

The next day I worked hard to make sure that all my schoolwork was finished by lunchtime.

I was sitting anxiously on the sofa when the doorbell rang.

Uncle Sam went to answer the door, and he let Stella in. She was carrying Cara on her hip, and a tote bag.

"This is normally rest time for them, so if they get tired, they can lay down. But I doubt that will happen," Stella said. She set Cara down and put the bag on the coffee table.

Grandpa John came out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee.

Cara stepped close to her mom and grabbed her leg.

"Who's that?" Macy whispered.

"This is my Dad, Charlie's Grandpa John," Uncle Sam introduced. "This is Stella," she stepped forward and they shook hands. "And this is Macy and Cara."

"Hi there," Grandpa John looked a little uncomfortable.

Macy tugged on Stella's hand. Stella leaned down. "He's not old like PawPaw Harold," she said in a loud whisper.

"No, I guess not. Grandpas can be different ages," Stella replied.

Uncle Sam and Grandpa John chuckled. "Well, thanks for making me feel like I'm not too old," Grandpa John grinned.

"All right, girls, be good," Stella kissed Macy and then Cara. "Cara, do you need to use the rest room?"

Cara shook her head. Stella straightened up and said to Uncle Sam, "Just ask her from time to time, she's still getting used to it."

"Okay," Uncle Sam nodded. Grandpa John walked down the hall to his room, and Stella left.

Cara looked like she was going to cry, so I said quickly, "Want to go to my room and see my toys?"

"Okay!" Macy took Cara's hand. "C'mon, Cara!"

It was slow walking up the stairs because Cara had to step up onto each step. "Dis a big steps," she said.

They were both amazed at all the figurines I had. Cara was fascinated by the Polly Pocket dolls and the little buildings that went with them. She laid down on her tummy in front of the shelf and played by herself, so Macy and I played with the Hello Kitty figurines.

There was a knock on the door jamb. Uncle Sam stood there. "When you're hungry, I've got a snack."

Cara sat up, her eyes lighting up. "Nack!"

Macy laughed. "She's always hungry!"

Cara stood up and walked over to Uncle Sam. "I has Sinna-wenna unna-pannies!" she said proudly, lifting her skirt up to show off her panties.

"Uh- 'Sinna-wenna'?" Uncle Sam asked in confusion.

Macy came over. "That's how she says Cinderella. Cara, you're not s'posed to show your underpanties to everyone, 'member? Mommy said!"

Cara frowned. "But I a big giwl!"

"I know, but you're s'posed to tell people, not show 'em!" Macy rolled her eyes and made Cara let go of her skirt. Cara looked upset.

"That's very, uh, nice," Uncle Sam said quickly.

"She got to get princess underpanties 'cause she stayed dry for a week at night," Macy explained.

"I see. Well, do you want to come downstairs?" Uncle Sam asked.

He walked down the stairs in front of us, turning at the bottom to wait. It took a while because Cara sat and scooted down each step on her bottom.

"We don't got big stairs like this at our house, 'cept the basement, but we don't go down there," Macy told us.

Uncle Sam had set out bowls of goldfish crackers and apple slices on the kitchen table. Cara had to kneel on her chair because she was too small to see over the table.

Grandpa John came into the kitchen to get more coffee. He leaned against the counter next to Uncle Sam. "How's it going?" he asked.

"Good," I replied.

"You got a pipe?" Cara asked, looking at Grandpa John.

Grandpa John frowned. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Our PawPaw Harold smokes a pipe. He makes smoke rings for us," Macy said.

"Oh. No, I don't smoke a pipe," Grandpa John said. He stepped forward and picked up an apple slice.

"Wets pway fissies!" Cara giggled and threw a goldfish at Macy.

"Heeeey, no throwing!" Macy said, and she threw the goldfish back.

Cara tried to catch it in her mouth, and she leaned too far, and lost her balance. She tumbled out of the chair onto the floor, and we gasped.

She laid there for a moment, and then sat up and wailed. Macy started to climb down off her chair. "It's ok-"

Cara stood up and ran over to Grandpa John, throwing herself at his legs. "I bumpeded my heeeeead!" she howled.

Grandpa John looked shocked for a moment, and then he leaned down and picked her up. He felt around on her head and then looked at Uncle Sam. "Yeah, she's got a goose-egg coming up."

Uncle Sam got out a plastic baggie and put some ice in it while Grandpa John sat down and put Cara in his lap. She leaned her head on his shoulder and put her arms around him, and he rubbed her back. It felt weird to me to see Grandpa John hugging another kid.

Uncle Sam wrapped the baggie with ice in a paper towel and handed it to Grandpa John. He held the baggie on Cara's head as she sniffled.

"Do you want to watch something?" Uncle Sam asked.

"We watch Forest Friends after rest time," Macy told him.

"Well, we can see if we can find that," Uncle Sam said.

"Wanna sit wif Gwampa," Cara sniffled.

"Uh-okay," Grandpa John picked her up and walked into the living room. He sat down on the sofa with us and Uncle Sam found the show. It was a cartoon about families of forest animals, and each family had a little song. Macy and Cara sang along with each one.

Cara played with the buttons on Grandpa John's flannel. She rubbed her hand on it and said, "Soft," and then she leaned on his chest.

A couple minutes later I looked over and her eyes had closed. She slowly brought her hand up to her face and put her thumb in her mouth. I poked Grandpa John's arm and pointed, and he looked down.

"Oh," he said quietly, "I guess I'm here with you for now. Could you bring me my coffee?"

"Sure," I got off the sofa and went to get his mug. I handed it to him and he took a drink, and then I took it and put it on the table. I sat next to Macy again and we watched the rest of the show.

"This is called Alphabet City!" Macy said as another show came on. "It's really cool!"

It was a show for little kids to teach them about reading. The show was about halfway over when there was a knock on the door.

Uncle Sam walked over and opened it, and Stella came in. She walked over to us. "Wow, I never thought I'd see this," she gestured at Cara. "She's usually very shy with men she doesn't know."

"She fell off of her chair and bumped her head, and was crying. She seemed to take a shine to him," Uncle Sam said.

"Not sure why," Grandpa John grinned.

"Because she could see through your gruff exterior that you're just an old softy now," Uncle Sam grinned back at him.

"I'll take her," Stella leaned over and picked Cara up. She opened her eyes. "Mommy, I fawwed down," she said.

"I heard. You're okay now?" Stella asked.

"Yup," Cara agreed, sticking her thumb back in her mouth.

Stella picked up the bag. "Thank you for watching them," she said gratefully, "We'll have to have Charlie over as a thank you. Say good-bye, girls."

Macy got off the sofa. "Bye!"

Cara lifted her head. "Bye Taw-ee, bye Unca, bye Gwampa," she said around her thumb.

Uncle Sam closed the door after Stella left.

"Well, that was unusual," Grandpa John said with a smile.

"You're a good grandpa!" I leaned over and hugged him.

"Thank you, darlin'," he put his arm around me and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. "I must be finally getting the hang of this Grandpa thing."

"We should talk about your birthday, Charlie," Uncle Sam came over and sat down next to me, "Your Dad said you talked about it, you want to have a party? We should decide who you want to invite."


	93. Chapter 93

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to share how I write with you, so you could see the effort that goes into it. If you aren't interested, then skip ahead to the fic.
> 
> For the story arc in "Becoming a Winchester" with the changeling and Charlie in the hospital, I watched parts of the episode "The Kids Are Alright" over and over, so that I could get a good sense of certain characters and the action in the episode. I've done this with more than one fic, and more than one character, to help me get a handle on writing them. I read parts of the episode transcript over and over as well. I looked up lore on changelings, in different myths and in the show. I decided how I wanted to bring Ben and Lisa into the story, and what I wanted to do with the changeling and what would happen to Charlie.
> 
> Then I researched toxins and how the human body reacts to them. I researched different types of paralysis and how the different parts of the body can be affected. I used my own experiences with testing and physical therapy as a basis for those parts of the story. I even looked up the distance from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Cicero, Indiana, so I could give an accurate account of how long it would take them to drive from one place to the other.
> 
> THEN, I distilled all of this information into what I wanted to write, and I wrote everything out, then I corrected all of the punctuation and grammar mistakes, and then I published it. And while I was writing, I was excited about the action, and I was curious about how people were going to react, and that excited me too. Reviews and comments do matter to writers, they are happy when they see responses to their new chapters.  
> **********

"And then, Mr. Ron had to bring a ladder outside and lean it up against the tree so that he could get Mark and Tim down!" I told Uncle Sam.

The weather had been warm for the past week and the neighborhood kids had been playing outside every day. We played in Franny's yard a lot, since she wasn't allowed to go running around that much. There were a couple of big trees in her backyard, and two boys had climbed one of them and then not been able to climb down.

Uncle Sam looked at me. "I don't want you trying to climb those trees," he said seriously.

I shook my head. "I won't."

"I'm glad that Franny's father was there to help out," Uncle Sam said.

"He and Ms. Lynne are nice!" Franny's parents were protective of her, because she had been so sick and in the hospital. They didn't let her go to other people's houses, and kids weren't allowed in their house either, because Franny could get sick really easily from other people's germs. But her mom would bring juice boxes and snacks outside for everyone that was playing in their yard.

"Yeah, they are," Uncle Sam agreed. We were shopping for birthday presents for Daddy, his birthday was before mine.

I stopped next to a display of men's t-shirts. "Look at this, Uncle Sam!" There was a shirt that had a Hello Kitty on it, but it was a man version, and he was holding a little girl Hello Kitty on his back. It said, "Hello Daddy" on it instead of "Hello Kitty".

I looked up at him. "I want to get it for Daddy, can we? Pleeese?"

"Well..." Uncle sam looked uncertain, and then he grinned. "Sure, go ahead. And we'll have to make sure he wears it out somewhere."

Uncle Sam found a couple of re-mastered versions of Led Zeppelin CDs, so he picked them up too. He placed them in the cart, and then I heard, "Charlie? Charlie Winchester?"

I turned. Imani, from when I had had physical therapy in the hospital, was standing there holding a small shopping basket.

Uncle Sam's face lit up. "Imani! What are you doing here?"

She smiled at us. "I could ask you the same thing!"

"We moved here to be near... our Uncle, more family, y'know," Uncle Sam said.

She nodded. "After my Nana passed, there were some...family disputes over money and property. It took some time, but it worked out. I got some money, and had to come here to deal with some land that's been in the family, my Nana's people are from this area. Then I found a job at an OT, and decided to stay."

"That's great!" Uncle Sam smiled at her.

"And how are you doing, Charlie?" she asked me.

"Fine," I said, "I got a bike for Christmas but I'm still learning to ride it."

"That's wonderful, I'm glad you're not having any problems! A bike can take some time to figure out, but I'm sure you'll do just fine. Are you going to school?"

"No, I'm still home-schooling her...for now."

"I don't wanna go to school!" I wrinkled my nose, and they laughed.

"Well, it was great to see you two. Tell your Dad and Grandfather I said hello!" Imani started to walk away.

Uncle Sam hesitated, and then followed her. He pulled out his phone, and then she pulled hers out. They typed into their phones, and then put them away. Uncle Sam's face was a little red when he came back over to me.

"What'd you do?" I asked.

"Oh, I, uh, I got—we exchanged phone numbers," he said, and his face got redder. "So we could, y'know, go out for coffee maybe."

"Wh—oh," I said, as I remembered that they had liked each other. "Are you gonna go on dates with her?"

"I don't know, Charlie. Let's go, all right?" He grabbed the cart and began to push it.

After we paid for our stuff and got in the car, Uncle Sam turned to me. "Are you hungry?"

I shook my head. "Not really."

"Not even for ice cream?"

I looked at him, and he grinned at me. "You're gonna take me for ice cream?" I asked.

"Sure, it's been a while since we've been out together. Want to?"

I bounced on the seat. "Well, yeah!" I grinned back at him, "I always have room for ice cream!"

We went to a Dairy Queen, and Uncle Sam parked and we went inside.

We both got cones, and then went to sit down at a table.

"Are we going to do something special for Daddy's birthday?" I asked.

"Probably not."

"Why not?"

He shifted. "Well...we've never...we're not too big on celebrating things."

"But why not?"

He looked uncomfortable. "We just...a lot of the time, we were busy hunting. So that was more important, you know?"

"Do you think he'll want to do something?"

"Well, if he knows it's important to you, then I think he'll want to," Uncle Sam smiled at me.

"I think it's important for him! Everyone should celebrate their birthday!"

Uncle Sam's phone buzzed, and he looked at it, and then began to text back.

"Is it Daddy?" I asked, leaning over.

"No, it's Imani," Uncle Sam said absently.

"Oh," I felt worried now. Was he going to start dating her, and get all involved? What if she had kids that we didn't know about?

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn~ ~

"You don't have a whole lot of toys," Aubrey said dismissively, "This is kinda boring. Let's go watch t.v."

I felt a little hurt that she said my room was boring, but I didn't show it. Daddy had suggested that I try having Addi and Aubrey over to our house instead of me going over there all the time.

"Okay," I agreed, and we went to the living room. I turned on the t.v. and flipped through the channels, trying to find one of my cooking contests. "I like to watch the Food Channel" I told them, "The cooking contests are fun."

"See if you can find College Town," Aubrey said to Addison. Addison took the remote from me and began to change the channels.

"Um, I'm not allowed to watch that," I said nervously. What would Uncle Sam say if he came in and saw me watching it?

"You're not allowed?" Aubrey rolled her eyes.

"How about 'Bachelors and Models'?" Addi looked over at me.

"What's it about?" I asked.

"A group of girl models live together in a big house, and they all work together and do modeling, and then there are these guys that come in and start to date all of them, it's really funny. The girls get all mean with each other," Aubrey explained with a mean smirk.

Uncle Sam came into the room at that moment, and looked at the tv. "What are you girls watching?"

"'Bachelors and Models'," Addi told him.

"It looks like a reality t.v. show, is it?" He asked.

"Well, kinda. It's cool," Aubrey said.

"Charlie's not allowed to watch those kinds of shows." Uncle Sam said.

"Uncle Sam!" I exclaimed, feeling embarrassed.

"Change the channel, please. Or turn the t.v. off. Would you like a snack?"

"Yes please!" Addi said, clicking the remote.

Aubrey rolled her eyes as Uncle Sam walked out of the room. "That's so dumb that you can't watch that show, it's great!" she muttered.

"Hey, 'Love and High School'!" Addi said, setting the remote down.

We watched for a few minutes, and Uncle Sam brought a couple of dishes out and set them on the coffee table. There were sliced apples, carrot sticks and dip on a plate, and a bowl of Goldfish crackers.

"Would you like lemonade, or water?" he asked.

"Do you have any Coke?" Aubrey asked, "I don't drink juice, it's for babies."

"No, we don't usually have soda," Uncle Sam replied.

"Do you have any popcorn?" Addi asked, "We usually eat that in the afternoon. Or potato chips, y'know."

"No, we don't have any popcorn or chips right now. What's that your watching?"

I looked at the t.v. Screen- two teens were laying on a sofa, kissing and rubbing their hands all over each other.

"It's called 'Love and High School'," Addi said.

"Well, I don't think it's appropriate for you girls."

"Our mom lets us watch it!" Addi said defensively.

"Uncle Sam, please?" I pleaded, "Just while they're here?"

"Do you have anything else to eat? We don't like carrots, and apple slices are- for preschoolers!" Aubrey huffed.

Uncle Sam raised his eyebrow. "No, this is what I've offered you for a snack. You can eat what's offered, or nothing."

Aubrey huffed again and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's not very polite to go to someone's house and demand different food than what's offered," Uncle Sam said with a hint of steel in his voice.

"It's not very polite to offer your guests snacks that are boring and gross!" Aubrey snapped.

"Excuse me?" Uncle Sam's voice was harder now. "I think you can turn the t.v. off. And after you eat, you girls can go home."

"We should be able to watch what we want, we're the guests!" Addi said hotly.

Uncle Sam shook his head. "Not if the host's uncle says that the shows are inappropriate."

"Well that's just dumb!" Aubrey snapped, rolling her eyes.

"And you are being very rude," Uncle Sam said to her. "I think you and your sister should go home now."

"Uncle Sam, no! Hey, you guys want to go out back and play?" I asked Addi.

"We could-" Addi started to say, but Aubrey stood up. "I don't have to listen to this! You're the one that's rude!" she said to Uncle Sam, who gaped at her.

"C'mon, Addi, let's go. Charlie, you wanna come back to our house and hang out?" Aubrey tossed her head.

Addi stood up and beckoned me. "Yeah, c'mon, Charlie! We got some new nail polish yesterday!"

I stood up and looked over at Uncle Sam. "Can I-" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "No, Charlie."

"But why not?" I complained.

"Because I said so."

I stomped my foot, getting annoyed. "That's not fair!"

"That's not a reason!" Aubrey sneered. She turned and began to walk over to the front door, and Addi followed. Aubrey turned to me. "You coming?"

I walked around the sofa towards them.

"Young lady, you will not set one foot outside that door," Uncle Sam said to me.

"Uncle Saaaaammm," I whined.

"I said no, Charlie," he said sternly.

Aubrey opened the door, and she and Addi stepped out. "Bye, Charlie!" Addi called, and Aubrey chimed in, "Thanks for nothing!"

I turned to Uncle Sam as the door slammed shut. "You—you-that's not—why'd you have to be like that?" I snapped.

"Charlie, your friends were being very rude, and I'm not going to put up with that from anyone. I'm going to call their mother later and tell her about how they acted."

"No! You can't do that! They're my friends!" I yelled, clenching my fists. "You're just being—a-a-big jerk!"

"Excuse me? You want to re-think what you just said to me?"

Anger surged up in me. " I'm gonna go to my friend's house and stay there until dinner time!"

"Charlotte Anne, you are not going anywhere," Uncle Sam's voice was back to being hard again. "And if you want to keep sitting comfortably, you will watch how you speak to me."

I stomped my foot again. "You're not being fair! You're a big giant meany! I should be able to do what I want! You didn't have to give us these dumb snacks!" I walked over to the coffee table and shoved at the plate, but I shoved too hard, and it slid off the table onto the floor.

Uncle Sam glared at me, and a muscle twitched in his jaw. "All right, that's it. Go to your room," he pointed.

"I don't-"

He took a step towards me. "Young lady, you are in a lot of trouble, and you're going to be in even more if you don't do what I say! Now GO!" he shouted, and I ran. When Uncle Sam shouted, it was scary.

I slammed and locked my door, throwing myself down on my bed. This was so unfair! He was so mean to me! Why did he have to act like I was a baby all the time? I should be able to watch the shows I wanted!

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door, and the door knob jiggled.

"Go 'way!" I sniffled.

"Charlie, open this door right now," Uncle Sam called, "You're not supposed to be locking doors, remember?"

I sat up and wiped my face off with my hands. "And you're not s'posed to be mean to me!" I called.

"I was not being mean to you," he said, and the door knob rattled again. "Charlotte Anne, you have three seconds to unlock this door."

"So what!" I yelled.

"I'm going to get my lockpick. If I have to use it, you will lose your door." I heard footsteps walking away, and threw myself back down on my bed. He was such a meany!

A couple minutes later the doorknob jiggled again and then I heard a pop! And the door swung open.

I sat up and looked over. Uncle Sam took a screwdriver out of his back pocket and began to remove a screw on one of the hinges.

I got up and ran over to him. "Hey! You can't do that!" I pushed at him.

He kept removing the screw. "Cool it, young lady."

I kicked the door. "Why do you gotta be so mean?" I yelled.

Uncle Sam turned to me. "Charlotte Anne. Go stand in the corner until I'm ready to deal with you."

I clenched my fists and glared up at him. "NO!" I yelled. I ran around him into the hallway, right into Grandpa John. "What's all the shouting?" he asked.

"Charlie's due for a spanking, but she thinks she doesn't need to obey me and she can do what she wants," Uncle Sam told him.

Grandpa John raised his eyebrows. "Oh? What's she supposed to be doing?"

"Standing in the corner while I take her door off the hinges." Uncle Sam put a screw into his shirt pocket and began to remove another screw.

"I suggest you do what your uncle told you to do," Grandpa John said to me.

I tried to run around him too, and go downstairs, but he caught me. I kicked my feet and tried to hit his arms as he lifted me and began to carry me into the bedroom.

"Oh no you don't, little girl," he growled, and he picked me up and slung me under his arm, holding me against his hip. He spanked me a couple of times and I burst into tears.

He carried me over to the corner and set me on my feet, holding on to my arm. "You will not hit or kick me again," he rumbled, "and you will stay here until your uncle calls you out."

"He's being mean! He made my friends go home! He—he's takin' my door away!"

"I'm sure he has good reason to," he said, and I turned away from the corner.

"Do—not—move," he snapped, swatting my butt again. I gulped- I knew I was gonna get a spanking from Uncle Sam, but it wasn't fair that Grandpa John was spanking me too!

"Dad, the paddle is in Dean's room in the top drawer, could you get it and bring it in here?" Uncle Sam asked.

I covered my butt with my hands. "Nooo," I whimpered.

Uncle Sam glared at me. "Whether or not I end up using it is entirely up to you and your behavior in the next couple of minutes, young lady."

I turned towards the corner and stood there trying to rub the sting out and sniffling. Grandpa John's hand was as hard and almost as big as Uncle Sam's hand!

Grandpa John left the room for a minute, and then came back. "Where do you want to put this?" he asked.

"Put it in my room for now," Uncle Sam said, and I heard a scraping sound, and footstpes walking away.

I heard Uncle Sam sigh, and then the bedsprings creaked. "Come here, Charlotte Anne," he said.


	94. Chapter 94

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, we've all known children like Aubrey and Addison in real life! As a parent and former teacher, I know all too well just how obnoxious kids can be! I switched POVs midway through the chapter, and it's different because Sam and Dean talk to the girls' parents about rules and discipline, and spanking is mentioned. I'd just like to say that because I write about it, doesn't mean that I advocate for spanking kids in real life. And just a reminder, this is a work of fiction, an AU where spanking is not frowned on like it is in the real world.

I turned around, and saw with a shock that my door was gone. The room looked funny without the door there.

I walked over and stood in front of Uncle Sam, noticing that the paddle was on my dresser.

Uncle Sam was sitting on the end of my bed, his hands on his thighs. I put my hands behind my back, covering my bottom.

He was just sitting there looking at me, and I couldn't keep looking back at him. I dropped my eyes to the floor, pushing a piece of lint with my toe.

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" his voice was hard.

"Uh-" I looked up at him. "Why'd you have to take my door off? That's not fair!" My voice came out as a whine, even though I felt mad.

"Really? That's what you're going to say to me?" he reached for me, and then all of a sudden I was looking at the floor over his lap, and his huge hand was coming down on my bottom. I shrieked, and tried to catch my breath as the spanks fell hard and fast. Usually Uncle Sam lectured me before he spanked me, I didn't know why it was different this time.

My butt was stinging, and tears were dripping off my face onto the floor, when he stopped.

"I have had enough of your behavior, young lady," he said, and his voice was hard and clipped, "No more attitude, no more sassing me, no more rudeness. I'm going to have a talk with your father, and we'll see what needs to be done."

"Wh-what d'you m-mean?" my chest hitched.

"Maybe you need more rules. Maybe you just need to have the attitude spanked out of you with a week's worth of bedtime spankings. Maybe you need to have all the sass washed out of your mouth."

I squirmed on his lap. "Noooo Uncle Saaaaam," I whined. I didn't want any of that!

"DON'T—tell—me-no!" he snapped, and then he pulled my pants and panties down, and began to spank my bare butt. I wailed and started crying harder, kicking my legs.

It felt like I had been there for hours when I heard someone say something. Uncle Sam stopped spanking me, and I turned my head. Daddy was standing in the doorway.

"She slammed and locked the door after a big blow-up, so I took it off. It's in my room," Uncle Sam said.

"A big blow-up, huh? What happened?" Daddy asked.

Uncle Sam let me go, and I slid off of his lap and ran to Daddy. I threw my arms around him, not caring that my bare butt was hanging out of my shirt.

"Uncle S-sam made my f-friends go home an' he was m-mean an' he t-t-took my door off! H-he said he's gonna wash my mouth out!" My chest heaved as I told Daddy what had happened.

"Did you swear?" Daddy took my chin in his hand and tilted my head back, his green eyes flicking back and forth between mine.

"Uh-uh-"

"I've had it with how she talks to me, Dean, she is rude and disrespectful, and I'm not putting up with it any longer." Uncle Sam said firmly.

Daddy raised his eyebrows. "Is that the case, Charlie? You've been sassy again, even after we've talked about this more than once?"

I let go of his waist and stepped back from him. "Uh-"

"Why don't you tell him what really happened, Charlie," Uncle Sam said. "It wasn't that I was mean, her little friends were being insolent, watching inappropriate shows, complaining about the snacks that I offered, the older one was outright nasty to my face." Uncle Sam shook his head.

"Really?" Daddy looked from Uncle Sam to me.

"But—but- why couldn't we have better snacks for them, 'cause they were visiting?"

"That's not how it works, Charlie. When you go to someone's house, you eat what's offered or you say no thank you if you don't like it, and you do what the adult of the house tells you." Uncle Sam said.

"That isn't- you're not—why can't I do things like my friends do!" I sputtered angrily.

"Well, I can see that all the talking that we've done with you over the past couple of weeks has gone in one ear and out the other," he said dryly.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that everything we've talked about, after you've gotten yourself in trouble because of those girls, doesn't seem to matter to you. Your dad and I have both talked to you more than once about making sure that you don't let your friends influence your behavior too much, and it hasn't changed. So I think the time for talking is over. It's time for something different. Maybe more rules and consequences." Uncle Sam looked at Daddy and they did their 'talking without words' thing.

My tummy twisted with nervousness. "I—I don't want more rules!" I exclaimed, tears filling my eyes again.

"I think you and I need to have a talk about this, Sam," Daddy said. "We'll come up with something to curb this behavior."

I clenched my fists and stomped my feet. "You—you- you're always takin' his side! This isn't fair!"

Daddy's eyebrows went up again. "Excuse me?"

"You—you're all just mean, and you like to be not fair!"

"Charlie, if I hear you say 'not fair' one more time-" Uncle Sam gritted out, and I turned on him. "I'm not talking to you ever again!" I snapped, "Don't talk to me!" I folded my arms on my chest.

Daddy looked stunned. "Little girl, who do you think you are?" he growled, stepping towards me. He took my arm and turned me, and then looked at my butt. "Well, I guess you've had enough of a spanking tonight, but tomorrow my hand is going to have some things to say to your butt about how you talk to people, Uncle Sam in particular. Right now, you're confined to quarters."

"What does that mean?"

"You're in your room for the rest of the night. Someone will bring you dinner. Sam-" Daddy let me go, and jerked his head. Uncle Sam stood up and they walked out, and went downstairs.

I threw myself down on my bed again and cried, feeling sorry for myself.

After a while I could smell food cooking, and my tummy rumbled. I hadn't eaten any of the snack that Uncle Sam had offered before, so I was hungry.

I thought I heard the front door open and close, and I ran over to my window. I watched as Daddy and Uncle Sam walked up the sidewalk towards Addi and Aubrey's house. What were they going to do?

Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Without the door on, I could hear a lot more of what was going on.

Grandpa John appeared in the doorway with a tray. He came over and sat down on the bed, setting the tray in front of him. There was a plate of noodles and meat sauce, and a small salad next to it.

"Where'd Daddy and Uncle Sam go?" I asked.

"They went over to talk to the Williams'. Come eat."

I walked over and sat down on my bed, folding my arms and glaring at him. "Are you gonna yell at me too?"

"No, I'm not," he said in a reasonable voice. "Everyone seems pretty upset tonight."

"Yeah, I am," I retorted, and then paused. "What do you mean, everyone?" I picked up my fork and began to eat.

"Your dad and uncle are upset as well as you."

"Well—well- Uncle Sam's bein' mean to me! He wants to make even more rules an' stuff!"

"Why do you think he's doing that?"

"'Cause he likes to make lots of rules! No-one else has all these rules!"

Grandpa John looked at me. "Your Dad and Uncle had a lot of rules."

I stopped eating and looked back at him. "They did?"

He nodded. "I made a lot of rules for them, because I wanted them to be safe. And...well, I left them alone a lot, when they were growing up, which wasn't right. That's why I made the rules that I did. To make sure that they'd do the right thing when I wasn't around."

"Like what?" I started to eat the salad.

"Well, they weren't supposed to answer the phone, I had a special way of calling them so they'd know it was me. I didn't want them to get involved with school activities, because I wanted them to be training to hunt. They had to learn Latin and how to speak it and translate it, and memorize certain things. Then when I started teaching them how to use weapons they had to remember how to use each one safely, and learn how to take apart and clean guns, and all the rules that are involved with gun safety."

"That's a lot of rules."

He nodded again.

"Did they get in trouble if they didn't follow your rules?"

"Yes, they did."

"What would happen?"

"Depending on what the rule was, they'd have to clean all the guns more than once, or do some copying and translating of Latin, or run extra laps. If they did something dangerous, they'd get a spanking. And I was very serious about them staying safe." He shifted on the bed. "Sam used to get mad at me, when he was a teenager, he'd argue with me. He didn't understand why I made all the rules that I did, why it was so important that they did exactly as I told them. He thought I was just trying to control them and not let them have normal lives. But I knew what was out there, and I wanted them to be prepared for anything and everything. I wanted them to have as much knowledge and training of the supernatural and how to fight it, as they could, so that...if I wasn't around, they'd be able to hold their own against it, and carry on the fight without me, if they had to."

"Now, your Dad isn't training you to hunt, like I trained him, but I know that you think he has a lot of rules for you. You didn't have any when you were with your mom, so having all these rules now is a lot to get used to, and then when you see other kids with different rules, it's confusing. However, the rules that your Dad has for you aren't that out of the ordinary. Parents should be making rules about when their kids go to bed, what they watch on t.v., and what they eat. That's normal. And your Dad and Uncle Sam are making rules to take care of you, because they love you, and want what's best for you. How would it be if you just went to bed whenever you wanted, and didn't have to worry about doing any school work, and you ate whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted?"

"It would be fun." I insisted.

He laughed. "The problem with that is, we wouldn't be teaching you how to behave in the real world. Parents make rules for kids so that they can learn how to grow into responsible adults. Parents teach their kids how to act and give them consequences, so that they know how it's going to be later. Because it doesn't change all that much when you're a grown up, there are just different rules to follow. How do you think your friends are going to deal with it, the first time they get a speeding ticket, or a late fee from a library, because they aren't used to living with rules?"

I shrugged. "I dunno." I put my fork down. "I'm done."

"All right. Put your pajamas on and then get into bed."

I was surprised. "What? Why?"

"Well, your Dad already said that you're in here for the night. He wants you to go to bed early."

"But—who's going to tuck me in?"

"I will. I'm not sure when they're going to come back."

I got up and changed into my nightgown, and then went to brush my teeth. After I got in bed, Grandpa John hugged me and kissed me, and then pulled my covers up. "Good night, little one. I hope you have a better day tomorrow." He picked up the tray and walked out of the room. I tried to stay awake, hoping to talk to Daddy when he came back, but I fell asleep.

~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~

Darlene opened the door and let Sam and Dean into the living room. Jim came walking out of the kitchen, eating a slice of bread.

"Hey, Dean, how's it going?" Jim stepped forward and shook Dean's hand, and then Sam's.

"Come and sit down," Darlene held her arm out towards the sofa. Dean and Sam walked over and sat down next to each other. Darlene perched on the matching armchair, and Jim sank down into the battered recliner that was next to her.

"What did you want to talk about?" Darlene looked expectantly from Dean to Sam, raising her eyebrows.

"Where are your daughters?" Dean asked.

"Oh, they're in Aubrey's room, probably. They came home, went straight to the kitchen and got snacks, and then went upstairs. They like to watch t.v. before dinner." Darlene explained.

"Well, we had...a situation...when they came over to our house..." Sam started, clearly uncomfortable.

Darlene glanced at Jim with a worried look. "What...kind of situation?"

"Uh..." Sam shifted, putting his hands on his knees. He'd never been in a circumstance like this before, where he had to talk to an adult about a child's behavior. On one level, he felt almost like he was "tattling", but his irritation with the whole thing outweighed his discomfort.

He took a deep breath. "Jim, Darlene, I've enjoyed getting to know you, and I'm glad that Charlie has found friends here. But your daughters...they're not the most pleasant."

Jim shifted and folded his arms over his chest. "Go on."

"One thing we noticed when Charlie comes home from your house, is that she's got a lot of attitude and is a lot more sassy than normal. She tends to pick up the behavior of kids around her." Dean told them.

"Well, I don't think you can blame our girls for that, I mean, it's not like they're telling Charlie to act that way, and Charlie's in control of her behavior." Darlene's voice was defensive.

"Yes, she is," Sam nodded, "But today, something happened. Your daughters were very rude during their visit, especially with me." He looked back and forth at Darlene and Jim as he told them everything that Aubrey had said and what had transpired.

Darlene looked shocked, her face pale. Jim's lips had tightened and he was shaking his head.

"I'm so sorry that happened, I'm embarrassed that they'd be that way," Darlene said with chagrin.

"Well, I'm sorry to say this, but for now, we're not going to allow Charlie to play with your girls. They—their influence on her isn't a good one." Dean said.

"Well, that's just-" Darlene sputtered, drawing herself up straight. "My girls can't help it if Charlie is—sensitive like that!"

"I told you," Jim turned to Darlene, "Those notes home weren't just the teacher fussing. She had valid concerns, and you blew them all off." He looked over at Sam and Dean. "We've been having- issues for quite a while with Aubrey, and this past year, she's gotten into some sticky situations at school, with bad behavior. She's had issues with classmates, and the teacher and even the guidance counselor contacted us."

"What do you mean, bad behavior?" Dean asked.

Jim sighed. "She-"

"Jim, they don't need to hear all that-" Darlene interrupted him.

"No, I'd like to hear what they think. Dean has a well-behaved, polite little girl, that all the kids seem to like, so obviously he's doing something right with her."

"Thank you," Dean said self-consciously, but inside he was bursting with pride. Charlie was a sweet little girl and a joy to be around, most of the time.

"Aubrey has a real attitude, not just with us, but with everyone. When the girls were younger, they did soccer, and we had to remove Aubrey from the team because- she just wasn't a team player. She's rude to teachers and kids, and even the girls that she's friends with get upset with her from time to time. She's gotten to the point that she barely has anyone. She's refused to do work in school, and when she's mean to other students, she won't apologize."

"I don't understand," Darlene said tearfully, "I've given them everything they want, and they're still not happy. What else can be done?"

"Charlie said that both girls have a t.v. in their room, and Addison has lots of Barbies and toys, and Aubrey has a computer and stereo. Is that what you mean by given them everything?" Sam asked.

"Well...yes." Darlene nodded.

Jim was shaking his head again. "When I was a kid, I had to earn that stuff, I didn't have my own t.v. until I was a teen, and we had a family computer."

Darlene rolled her eyes. "Yes, Jim, we all know about how hard your life was. I want my girls to have something different."

"Let me ask you something. What happens when Aubrey gets a note sent home? Or when she doesn't do what you've told her to do?" Dean asked Darlene.

"Well, I...I speak to her about it."

"And...?"

"What do you mean, and?" Darlene looked confused.

"Is there a consequence?"

"Yes, I've spoken to her about her behavior and told her she needs to not do that."

"You don't even do that anymore," Jim scoffed. "I hate to say this, but the girls have turned into brats. I don't-" he sighed, "I sometimes have to make myself talk to them, but I don't want to, because it's so unpleasant."

"That's not right," Dean said.

"No, it's not, but what can we do?" Darlene asked.

"Do they have rules to follow? Chores that they're supposed to do? Consequences that happen if rules are broken or chores aren't done? Charlie mentioned that they get an allowance. Do you take that away?" Dean looked at Darlene.

She looked uncomfortable. "No, they get their allowance every week. I don't require them to do chores, it's just easier for me to do things, they end up making a bigger mess. And well...that's it."

"Can I ask why?"

"What do you mean? Why they don't have rules?" Darlene looked even more uncomfortable. "Well...I was the oldest of 7, and I had to basically raise the younger ones. My parents both worked, and were very busy. My mother had everything down to strict schedules for everyone, and if things didn't go the way she wanted, I was the one who got into trouble. Do you know how hard it is to get 4 kids under the age of 5 into bed every night in an hour's time? And then I also had to do my homework. I got so tired of hearing that I was a terrible daughter and lazy, just because I didn't do things to her specifications, but really, it was too much for one teenager. So I told myself that when I had kids, they wouldn't have the same life I did, I wouldn't expect them to have chores, and I wouldn't make them do things if they didn't want to, and I'd be their friend and their mom."

Dean shook his head. "You can't be their friend. They need to know that you're in charge."

Darlene made a face. "I hated when my parents pulled that 'I'm your father and you'll do as I say' crap. I don't think it's fair when parents say 'because I said so'. I'm going to talk to my kids and reason with them, explain things."

"That's fine," Dean agreed, "However, there comes a time when you don't need explanations or reasoning, when your kid needs to do what they're told."

Now Darlene shook her head. "I'm not going to just order my kids around like a- like a sergeant in the army! They need patience and understanding."

"You can still be patient and understanding while laying down the law," Dean insisted, "Kids need rules and boundaries, it makes them feel safe and cared for. And they need consequences when they break the rules."

"That's what I've been saying." Jim nodded in agreement. "How do you do things with your daughter?"

Dean glanced at Sam. "Sam helps raise her, and he's her home-schooling teacher, so he has a hand in everything. We put her in time-out, or give her early bedtime, take away things like her 3Ds or t.v. watching privileges, or she has to write lines sometimes. And... we also spank her."

"I thought you were only supposed to use time out for young children." Darlene said.

Dean shrugged. "We don't use it very often, and you're right, I think it'd probably be hard to get an older kid to sit in time out. But Charlie came to us from a situation where she had absolutely no rules, or anything, so we had to teach her how to do what we say."

Jim looked at Darlene. "See, I told you. You're not a bad mom if you scold your kids or give them a punishment."

"Well..." Darlene's face got red and she stared at the floor.

"You've got to let go of the idea that you're gonna be your kid's friend. Our Dad used to say, "I'm not here to be liked, I'm here to raise you right." He had a lot of rules for us, but we knew exactly what was expected of us and what would happen if we didn't toe the line."

"And you seem like a pretty good guy, so he must've done something right," Jim said.

Dean nodded at him. "Thank you, I think the old man did a good job, considering."

He looked back at Darlene. "You're going to have to lay down the law with your girls, make some rules, and stick to them, and then bring out the consequences when the rules get broken."

"But—what if they say no? I mean, we've never required any of that from them," Darlene said nervously.

Dean chuckled. "If you tell them what to do and they say no, then they get a consequence. And that's that. If it keeps going, they get another consequence."

"Well...I just don't know..." Darlene twisted her hands together.

Jim looked at her. "We've had discussions like this before. And you know I think that the girls need rules and all that. I think the time is long past due for this, and it's time to deal with this behavior. I'm ready to fall in line with what Dean is saying."

"Oh, but...it's not that bad, I mean, a lot of those girls at school were very sensitive and picky-"

Jim shook his head. "Stop making excuses. Our daughter got kicked off of her soccer team because she was being such a little- hellion! She barely has any friends! Multiple teachers tried to talk to you about her awful behavior at school, multiple times! She refuses to do her schoolwork, right to the teacher's faces! And it's influenced our younger daughter so she's starting to act like that too!" Jim looked at Dean. "You know what would have happened to me if I'd pulled any of that?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, me too. Our dad was a firm believer in hand-to-butt motivation."

Jim grinned. "My father worked in construction, and he was a strong man, with a thick tool belt."

"Our Dad's an ex-Marine, same thing." Sam nodded with a grin.

"Well...I don't know," Darlene said doubtfully, "I'm going to let you take the lead on this, Jim. I don't think...I don't think I could do any of that."

"We'll see, you get really frustrated with them too. Remember, you used to say you wanted to pop them on the butt, but you felt guilty about it? Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if you'd done that a few times when they were younger, and not gotten upset at me for wanting to spank them," Jim said to Darlene, "First we need to sit down and figure out rules for the girls, and then consequences. And then we'll talk to them about it."

"Expect pushback. Expect things to get worse while they test you and push boundaries." Dean said.

"All right. I think we can do this." They all stood up, and Jim reached out to shake Dean's hand. "Thank you for talking to us—and for being honest, about everything."

"No problem," Dean shook Jim's hand.

"Before you go, I want the girls to come down and apologize to Sam," Jim walked over to the stairs. "Girls! Come downstairs!" he called.

There was no reply. "Addison! Aubrey! Come downstairs!" Jim repeated.

He waited, and then walked upstairs, shaking his head. A few minutes later, the girls came downstairs, complaining under their breath.

"Sam told us that your visit to Charlie's house didn't go well. He said that you were rude and nasty to him. Both of you need to apologize."

Aubrey folded her arms. "I don't see why. He wasn't being nice!"

"Aubrey, honey, he's an adult, and you can't speak that way to an adult," Darlene said to her.

"We're going to have a talk about your behavior, and some things are going to change around here," Jim looked at the girls.

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You've said that before and nothing happened!"

"Well, this time, Dad's in charge of things. And like I said, things are going to be different." Jim said firmly. "Now, I want to hear apologies."

Aubrey huffed.

"Charlie's father doesn't want you girls playing with her for now, because you were so- unpleasant," Jim looked at Aubrey.

Addison looked unhappy. "But—but-" she stared up at Dean, and then Sam. "I'm sorry! M'sorry for anything I said or did...can I play with Charlie?"

Dean shook his head. "Not for the time being. She's grounded to the house for a couple of days."

Addison looked at Aubrey. "Aub, say you're sorry! Charlie's my friend!"

Aubrey didn't say anything.

"Aubrey, come on!" Addison stomped her foot.

Aubrey sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fiiine. I'm sorry, okay?" she sniffed haughtily.

Jim folded his arms. "I'm not happy with the attitude, but it'll have to do for now. Go to your rooms, your mother and I have to talk."

"When's dinner?" Addison whined.

"In a little while. We need to decide some things, and then we'll talk after dinner. Go upstairs." Jim said.

Addison trudged up the stairs and Aubrey stomped.

"You've got your work cut out for you," Dean said to Jim.

"I may call you for some pointers," Jim chuckled, and showed them to the door. "Thanks again, guys, and I'm sorry about Aubrey. She'll give you a better apology later."

Dean glanced at Sam as they walked back towards their house. "Well, that went better that expected. I was nervous that they'd just tell us that we were full of it, and kick us out." Sam said.

"Well, Jim's got a good head on his shoulders, and he wants to do the right thing. A couple times when he was waiting in the lobby for his car, either Aubrey or both girls were with him, and you should have heard how she mouthed off at him. And boy did he look pissed. He finally got angry one time and just told her to shut her mouth and stop talking, that he was done listening to her." Dean told Sam.

"Now we've got to decide what to do about that sulky little girl in our house," Sam said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm curious as to what you all think the guys should do with Charlie...and please tell me if you'd like to see a chapter from Dean's actual POV! If you are interested, let me know, and maybe I'll give it a try!


	95. Chapter 95

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder: "Becoming A Winchester" is primarily a spanking fiction. That means that the story contains many spanking scenes on purpose, and this is one of the goals in writing it, and one of the main things people will read it for. It is not a manual for parenting or a commentary on child discipline in "the real world". It is not a story meant to describe realistic family drama (although it largely does, outside of the spankings). It is an Alternative Universe, and in it, spanking is a legit and acceptable punishment, and this is the premise of the story. So if that bothers you, you should hit the back button, or skip over the parts with spanking in them.  
> And a HUGE Thank You for my betas, CrazedPanda and Edge_of_Clairvoyance, who gave this a once-over and let me pick their brains.
> 
> CONTENT WARNING for domestic violence and angst.  
> ************

I pulled sweatpants on over my leotard and tights, and then sat down to slip my shoes on. A girl walked by with her mom, and said shyly, "I like your backpack."

I sat up and put my coat on. "Thanks!" I was carrying my Hello Kitty backpack, of course.

Grandpa John stood up next to me and took the bag. "Ready?" He held his hand out to me.

I stood up and took his hand. "Yes sir."

We left the building and walked to his truck, and he lifted me up into it.

It was three days after the playdate disaster with Addi and Aubrey. Things had changed some- Daddy and Uncle Sam had sat down with me and written out all the rules, and put them up on the fridge, to remind me of them. Then they had talked about my chores and made up a chart, and given me more. Grandpa John was going to be "taking charge" of me on Tuesdays and Thursdays to give Uncle Sam a break. Grandpa John oversaw me doing my school work in the mornings and then took me to a gymnastics class they had found, in the afternoons.

Daddy had given me a stern lecture about how I treated people, and how I talked to them, especially Uncle Sam, and then I had gotten a spanking at bedtime because of how rude I had been. I had apologized to Uncle Sam for being so mean and saying I never wanted to talk to him again. He had apologized to me too, he said he was angry when he spanked me and he should have waited.

So now one of the new rules was that I had to say 'yes sir' and 'no sir' to everyone, to remind me to be respectful. And I was done getting chances too, if I was sassy or rude at all, I got in trouble right away.

I had to do what I was told without complaining and whining also.

Grandpa John looked over at me as he started the car. "So, what do you think? Are you still enjoying the class?"

I nodded. "It's fun!"

"How are you feeling? Anything sore?"

"Nope...uh, no sir. Did you see me on the balance beam?"

"I did. Were you nervous this time?"

"Yeah, I was still scared, but Miss Dina said she'd hold my hand until I got to the end. She said that she'd teach me how to do a flip off of the balance beam eventually!"

"You think you'll be able to do it?"

"Umm... I dunno, I'm still kinda getting used to it."

"I think once you get the hang of everything, you won't have any problems." Grandpa John said confidently. "Should we stop for a milkshake today?"

"Yes please!" I grinned at him.

He had said that after exercise it was important to hydrate, but that it was okay if I got something like a milkshake or ice cream, because I needed the extra calories too. Uncle Sam had rolled his eyes and said that milkshakes weren't the best thing for that, and Grandpa John had retorted that he could take me out for ice cream if he wanted to.

When we went home, I went to my room to change out of my leotard. Grandpa John was in the kitchen, and Uncle Sam had just come in.

"We'll make sausage and peppers tonight, Charlie," Grandpa John said to me.

"How did it go?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Fine," I replied, "I walked on the balance beam by myself for a little bit!"

"That's good. Did you put your leotard in the hamper?"

I gave him a look. "Yes sir."

"Don't give me that face, I had to remind you on Tuesday," Uncle Sam said sternly, "Watch it, young lady." He pointed over at the list of rules on the refrigerator door.

I blushed a little. "Yes, sir," I said meekly. I didn't want to get into any trouble today- the first two days after the playdate, I had gotten swatted whenever I was sassy, and I had managed not to get any swats yesterday and today. So far.

Grandpa John got some stuff out of the refrigerator, and began to slice up an onion.

Uncle Sam called me into the dining room, where my desk was. "You got a couple of math problems wrong," he showed me the tablet. "Re-do them, please."

"Oh- kaay," I sighed, sliding into the desk chair.

"Excuse me?" Uncle Sam's voice was stern again.

"I mean, yessir." I gulped.

"Look at me."

I raised my head and looked at him- his face was serious. "If you forget one more time, or give me any more attitude, you're going to get a spanking, understand?"

"Yes sir," my stomach twisted nervously. It was hard to remember to say sir all the time. And it was hard to remember to not say things like "oh-kaay" like that, it was what I was used to. My mom had never said anything about the way I talked to her and never required me to be respectful. I wasn't mean or rude to people, but I guess I was pretty sassy, especially to her. But I had discovered that having a stinging butt does actually help me remember to not be mouthy, because every time I sat down I remembered that I'd gotten swatted for being sassy, and I reminded myself to not be like that. But I wasn't going to tell Daddy or Uncle Sam that!

I worked on the math problems, and then showed the tablet to Uncle Sam.

"That's better," he said. "You got both sets of questions done for the social studies unit?" He set my workbook down.

"Um, yes sir, I did all of 'em...is that okay?" I looked up at him uncertainly.

He nodded. "That's one less thing we have to do tomorrow."

Grandpa John came to the kitchen door. "You ready to do some cooking?"

I looked up at Uncle Sam. "Yeah, we're done," he said.

I got up and went into the kitchen. Grandpa John brought the little plastic step-stool over and I stood on it. He handed me a spatula.

"I've turned the heat on low, you don't want it too high, or it will burn the outside of the meat, and grease will spatter everywhere. Keep an eye on the sausages and turn them every so often, when they get brown. We'll add the peppers and onions later, they cook faster."

"Should I turn the sausage now?" I asked.

"Lift up the side and look at it. See how it's still pink? It's not ready to be turned yet." he explained.

Uncle Sam came in and got dishes and utensils out, setting them on the table. "You can set the table, Charlie."

"But I'm cooking, Uncle Sam!"

"Part of learning how to cook is doing more than one thing. You can set the table while you're waiting for the sausages to cook," he told me.

"They won't burn?" I asked.

Grandpa John shook his head. "They shouldn't burn in the short amount of time it'll take you to put the dishes out. And I'll keep an eye on them."

I got down off the stool and set the table, folding napkins that Uncle Sam gave me and putting them underneath the spoons. Then I stepped onto the stool again. Grandpa John told me to turn the sausages then, so I did.

"Is that okay that they're brown like that?"

"Yeah, they'll get brown marks like that, it's fine. It means that they're cooked."

We heard the sound of the front door opening, and then Daddy walked into the kitchen. "Well, look at you, at the stove!" he came over to me and hugged me.

"Hi, Daddy!" I said happily. He was wearing a striped shirt with the garage's logo on it, and it had stains of grease on it. He smelled like a car engine.

"I was underneath cars all day, I want to take a quick shower," he said, dropping a kiss on top of my head.

"You've got time, go ahead," Grandpa John said. "I think we're ready for the vegetables," he picked up the bowl that they were in and emptied it into the pan. "They're going to cook quicker than the meat, so keep an eye on them. They'll get soft, that's okay."

He continued to talk me through cooking the peppers and onions, while he cut up some bread.

"Looks like everything's done," he said finally.

I got down off of the stool and went to sit down. Uncle Sam poured me a glass of milk and then he sat down too.

Daddy came in just as Grandpa John was setting the pan on the table with the bread.

"This looks good," Daddy said enthusiastically as he sat.

"You did a great job, Charlie," Uncle Sam said after he'd eaten some of the sausage.

"Yeah, it's awesome," Daddy gave me a thumbs up.

"Thanks," I said shyly. "Thanks for showing me how to cook, Grandpa John."

"You're welcome, little one," he said with a smile.

Uncle Sam ate quickly and then said he had to leave. He was going on a date with Imani tonight. He set his plate in the sink and then leaned down to hug me.

"Have a good night, Charlie."

"Have fun, Uncle Sam, tell Imani I said hi," I replied.

Daddy and I cleared off the table after we were finished eating, and then we went into the living room to watch t.v.

"After your show is over, you need to take a bath," he said.

"Okay. I mean yes sir."

He turned his body toward me and tilted his head, considering, "I think you can be off of grounding now," he reached over and tucked my hair behind my ear. "You've been pretty well-behaved and respectful."

"Thanks," I looked down at my lap.

"I want you to continue with it, though, don't start slacking off. And I still don't want you playing with Addison or her sister."

"What'm I s'posed to do?" I looked up at him.

" If you're outside and they come around, you come home. I'll have to see if I can arrange something with Franny's mother. And you can stick with Macy and Cara for now."

"Okay, Daddy," I snuggled into his side and he put his arm around me.

Uncle Sam told me the next morning that he and Imani had gone out for coffee and found a bookstore that sold all kinds of used books, with a special shelf of really old books. He said he would take me there sometime to see it. He seemed more relaxed that he had been, and happy. I got done with my schoolwork quickly, and after lunch he said I could go play with Macy if I wanted.

It was a nice day, and they were outside with chalk again.

As we were drawing, I heard loud voices coming from inside the house. I looked up, and saw Macy raise her head and look over with a scared look on her face.

The front door opened suddenly, and a man came storming out, followed by Stella. "-care what it says, I got rights too, and I'm gonna see my kids!" the man snapped.

"Can't we just sit down calmly and talk about this?" Stella asked. She looked upset.

"I'm done talkin' to you!" The man stopped on the top step. "Macy! Get your sister and let's go!" He pointed at her.

Macy and Cara both had stopped coloring, and were looking at their mom. "Mommy-" Macy started.

"Don't talk to her, you're coming with me!" The man shouted at Macy, and she flinched back.

"Don't raise your voice to her!" Stella stepped forward and put her hand on the man's arm.

"Shut the hell up! You don't tell me what to do!" The man swung around and hit Stella in the face, and she stumbled backwards and tripped, crying out as she fell.

Macy and Cara and I all screamed at the same time, standing up together. I was so scared I didn't know what to do.

The man leaned down, and I heard the sound of another blow.

"Noo!" Macy screamed, and ran up onto the porch. "Get off my mommy!" She grabbed at the man's leg, and he turned, shoving her. She flew backwards off the step, tripped over pieces of chalk, and fell flat on her back, letting out another scream.

The man came down the steps. "C'mon, we're leaving," he said, looking at Macy, and then at Cara. Cara grabbed at me and screamed, "Nooo!", clutching my arm.

He loomed over us, glaring down at her. "You are going to come with me!" he growled, reaching for Cara, who screamed even louder, gripping my arm tightly.

"STOP IT! DON'T TOUCH HER!" A loud voice yelled.

The man looked up, and we turned- Uncle Sam was striding across the lawn, his face angry. He walked right up to the man, his chest out and his jaw tight. "What's going on here?" Uncle Sam demanded, "I think you need to leave."

The man stood up straight. "I think you need to butt the hell out and mind your own business, buddy."

Stella stood up, grabbing onto the porch railing. Her eye was swollen and red, and the rest of her face was pale and drained. She was holding her other arm close to her chest- it looked funny.

"Stella, are you all right?" Uncle Sam asked urgently.

"I'm okay, I just—hurt my arm when I fell-" She replied in a weak voice.

Uncle Sam looked back at the man. "Did you do that to her?"

"I told you, you need to butt OUT!" the man shouted, pushing at Uncle Sam.

I screamed, and I heard other screaming as Uncle Sam and the man fought, and then suddenly the man was face down on the ground. Uncle Sam held him there with his arm twisted behind him, and Uncle Sam's knee on his lower back.

"Charlie, reach into my pocket and get my phone, call 911," Uncle Sam said, breathing hard.

I was scared to come close to the other man, I started to walk forward, but Cara was clinging to me.

"Cara, let go!" I said, and she wailed. I could feel her body shaking as she cried.

"Mommy, my head hurts," Macy had sat up, and she touched the back of her head. When she brought her hand around again, it was covered in red. She looked up at Stella and screamed again. "I'm bleeding! Mommy what's happening!"

I had walked over to Uncle Sam by now, dragging Cara with me, and tried to reach into his front pocket.

"What happened?" Grandpa John came hurrying over from our yard, pulling out his cell phone.

"Call 911," Uncle Sam told him, "This guy assaulted Stella and possibly Macy too."

The man growled and struggled, and Uncle Sam twisted his arm further up his back.

"That's my wife and kid, asshole, and it's not any of your business what happened!" he yelled.

"When you hurt your wife and kid, it becomes my business," Grandpa John retorted, dialing a number.

He spoke into the phone for a couple of minutes, and then put it away. He walked over to Stella, who had sunk down to sit on the top step of the porch. Her face was even paler, and she looked like she was trying not to cry. Macy was sitting next to her on a lower step.

"Are you hurt? Let me see," Grandpa John said gently. "I was a medic in the Marines."

"I'll be okay, check Macy, her head is bleeding," Stella gasped.

Grandpa John tilted Macy's head forward and looked at it. He pulled a bandanna out of his pocket and folded it, pressing it on the back of her head. "I want you to hold this here for me, all right? And sit quietly. You have a little cut on your head, but it'll be fine." His voice was low and reassuring.

We could heard sirens in the distance. People had started coming out of their houses and were standing around watching.

Grandpa John looked at Stella's arm, talking quietly to her. Then he came over to me and squatted down. "Are either of you girls hurt?" he asked, looking from me to Cara. She was still weeping hard.

"Uh-uh," I said, "Just scared."

"I know," he opened his arms to us and gathered us in. Cara threw her arms around his neck and bawled into his shirt.

Two police cars came driving up the street and parked in front of the house. "I need to talk to them," Grandpa John let us go, but Cara clung to him, wailing. He stood up and carried her as he walked over to talk to the officers who got out.

I walked over and sat next to Macy. Tears were tracking down her face as she leaned on her mom's leg. She reached over and took my hand.

Ms. Lynn came hurrying up the sidewalk and came over to us. "Oh god, what happened, Stella?" she glanced around. "I take it Chad wasn't happy about the papers?"

Stella laughed humorlessly. "That's an understatement."

An ambulance pulled in, and two of the police officers came over to talk to Stella.

Grandpa John came over to us, and nodded to Ms. Lynn.

"That's my Grandpa," I told her. We walked over to the side of the yard and stood there while police and the EMTs talked to everyone. I stood between Grandpa John and Ms. Lynn, and he stroked my head and put his arm around my shoulder. Cara clung to him like a monkey, whimpering.

The man was put into the back of a police car in handcuffs, and then the police talked to Uncle Sam and then Stella.

The EMTs looked Macy over and talked to her, and then examined Stella. She motioned to Grandpa John and Ms. Lynn, and they walked back over to her. Ms. Lynn went inside their house, and the EMTs helped Stella stand up. One of them helped Macy up.

"The ambulance is taking them to the hospital," Grandpa John came over to me. "We're going over too, so that they can give Sam a once-over, and Cara, just in case. The police may want to talk to you, too, Charlie, to get your version of what happened."

"Are we goin' in a ambulance?" I asked.

Ms. Lynn came over carrying a ring of keys, handing them to Grandpa John. "I'll pack bags for the girls and bring them to the hospital, all right?"

"We're going to drive Stella's car over, since it already has car seats in it." Grandpa John told me.

Cara fussed and cried when he tried to put her in a car seat, she didn't want to let him go. I sat next to her in the back and held her hand. She had stopped wailing, but she was still crying, tears dripping continuously down her face and her chest hitching.

We parked in the lot for the Emergency Room and Grandpa John set Cara on his hip again. There was a small fuzzy blanket in the back, and Uncle Sam picked it up and handed it to Cara. She had an arm wrapped around Grandpa John's neck, and she scrunched the blanket in her hand and rubbed it on her face.

"You doing okay?" Uncle Sam asked me.

I nodded, remembering how everyone always told me "Be a brave girl for your mom", and "Your mom needs for you to be strong and brave for her right now".

I hurried beside Uncle Sam as we walked to the doors of the ER, trying to keep up with his and Grandpa John's long strides. Uncle Sam was talking to Cara and trying to make her smile, but she just looked at him.

Once we had checked in at the front desk, I sat next to Grandpa John, and Uncle Sam walked away to make a phone call.

The ER waiting area was crowded with people- a teen with a huge bandage on his ankle, an elderly woman in a wheelchair with a breathing tube in her nose, moms holding coughing toddlers, a man with a cut on the side of his head.

We were taken back into an exam area with a table and a padded chair. Stella was laying on the table and Macy was sitting in the chair.

Cara wanted her mom to hold her, but Stella couldn't, because the nurse said her arm was broken. That made Cara cry even harder.

Uncle Sam came into the room. "I called Dean, he's on his way over."

The next couple of hours were busy, with people coming in and out to examine everyone. Stella was taken to get x-rays.

Macy had to get stitches in the back of her head, because she had cut her head on a rock in the grass. She cried and screamed and had to be held down on a stretcher that they brought in. Uncle Sam sat next to her head and tried to keep her calm, but it didn't help very much. Grandpa John sat in a metal chair off to the side holding Cara, with his arm around me as I leaned on him.

When Stella came back, the police were there to talk to everyone. I had to go into a separate area with Uncle Sam and talk to a police lady and tell her what happened.

When we came back, there were nurses there with Stella. They were putting an IV in her arm, and said they were taking her to get something called a CT scan. It made me think of my mom, she had always had to get needles in her arm like that when she was getting her treatment.

Uncle Sam sat on the stretcher between me and Macy. He put his arms around our shoulders and rubbed our backs.

There was a knock on the door and it opened, and then Daddy came in. I got off the bed and ran to him. He leaned down and picked me up, hugging me tightly. "Are you all right?" he asked. I nodded, and he squeezed me and kissed my forehead.

He set me down and opened a plastic bag he was carrying. "Well, I was walking by the gift shop, and I saw something that three brave girls needed," he said, pulling out some stuffed animals. There was a tan colored bear, a gray cat, and a white bunny, they had jointed arms and legs and were each wearing a little flowered dress and had a bow on their ear. Daddy handed the bunny to Cara, the bear to Macy, and the cat to me.

"I remembered how the police gave you that teddy bear and you said it made you feel better when you were talking to them," Daddy said to me.

"Thanks, Daddy!" I said.

"Thank you," Macy said shyly, "I like the dress."

Daddy looked over at Cara. She clutched the bunny to her chest and buried her face in Grandpa John's flannel.

Daddy raised his eyebrows.

"She hasn't said a word," Grandpa John said quietly. "I had them check her over for shock, but she's okay as far as that's concerned."

Daddy leaned against the stretcher, putting his arm around me. "So what's the plan?" he asked.

"We're going to bring the girls home with us," Uncle Sam said, "Lynn's going to pack some clothes for them and bring them here, and stay with Stella for a while. She said she can't have the girls at her house right now because Franny's fighting a cold, and she doesn't want to introduce new germs."

"That's fine," Daddy stroked my hair, "They can stay with us as long as they need to."

"Macy and Cara are gonna spend the night?" I looked over at Macy. "That'll be fun!"

"I wanna stay here with Mommy," Macy whispered, tears filling her eyes.

"I don't think you can, Macy," Uncle Sam said.

There was another knock on the door, and Ms. Lynn came walking in carrying two backpacks and a duffle bag.

"There's pull-up diapers in here for Cara, she's been sleeping without them, but...you might want to put one on her tonight, just in case. Stella said last time she and Chad had a—disagreement like this, Cara went backwards in her potty training for a while, so..." she set the bags down.

A nurse came walking in holding a clipboard, and said she wanted to talk to the grownups.

Uncle Sam, Daddy, and Ms. Lynn all followed her into the hallway for a few minutes.

When they came back in, Ms. Lynn leaned down to talk to Macy. "Your mom has to stay in the hospital overnight, so they can watch her. She might have something called a concussion, which is like a boo-boo in her brain. I'm going to stay with her for a while, and you're going to go to Charlie's house for a sleepover, all right?"

"I don't wanna leave!" Macy wailed, bursting into tears. "Wanna stay with mommy!"

"I know, sweetie, but you can't. Mommy needs to rest, and so do you." Ms. Lynn stood up. "They've got her in a room, let's go and say goodbye to her now."

Stella sat propped up in bed, with her arm all bandaged and strapped to her chest. She had an IV in and a blood pressure cuff on her arm, and there were machines next to her bed that were beeping.

Macy sat on the bed and carefully hugged Stella, but then she started crying and wouldn't let go.

She started to whine, "I wanna stay! Don't make me leave her! I don't wanna leave my mommy!"

All of a sudden, everything hit me. The hospital smells, the beeping machines, seeing Stella in a bed hooked up to machines, how scared I had been earlier- I burst into tears.

Everyone turned to look at me.

"Charlie-?" Daddy's forehead was wrinkled in concern.

"I—I- it was so scary before, I couldn't- an' all this, makes me th-think of, of be-before, when my m-mommy wuh-was sick!"

"Ohh," Daddy leaned down and picked me up. I buried my face in his shoulder and sobbed as he carried me out of the room.

I felt him sitting down, and he put me in his lap and held me as I cried, rubbing my back.

After I had calmed down, he leaned over and grabbed some tissues. He held one up in front of my nose. "Blow."

I took it from him and blew my nose. "M' not a baby," I wiped my face off with another tissue.

"That was quite an experience for you today, no wonder you cried," he said quietly, "You know that you're safe, and the girls are safe, and so is Stella, and she's going to be taken care of here? It was scary, but it's all right now, and you're going to be okay."

I leaned on his chest. "I was tryin' to be brave, for Macy an' Cara. People always told me to be brave for my mommy, too."

"Well, it's fine to be brave, but that doesn't mean that you push your feelings aside. You can let yourself cry too, or feel scared. I'm glad you were able to let go."

I looked down at my lap, shame-faced. "I—I didn't—mean to start cryin'-"

"It's okay, Charlie, what is it?" Daddy asked when I hesitated.

"When I- when Mommy first started getting' her treatments it was scary an' she got real sick, an' I didn't know what was happening an' no-one would talk to me, an' they took her away, then she came back and looked really yucky. An' I started to cry 'cause I was scared, and one of the nurses got mad at me an' said that I shouldn't cry, that this wasn't about me, it was about my mommy, an' I was being selfish an' trying to put the attention on me. So I tried to be brave an' not cry after that." I felt myself blushing again, remembering how awful I'd felt when the nurse had been scolding me and glaring at me, and feeling like I was a bad kid for crying and upsetting my mom.

I saw a muscle in Daddy's jaw jump, and I got nervous. Was he mad at me now, too?

"Well that's just—that's- Jesus," he ran a hand through his hair, and looked down at me. "Charlie, you did nothing wrong, you hear me? God, the more I hear about these nurses and all-" he shook his head, "And how they talked to you, it sounds like they didn't have much compassion at all. She shouldn't have said that stuff to you, and if I had been there, I'd've given her a piece of my mind. Of course you're going to get scared and cry, you were a little kid, and no one was explaining anything to you!" He pulled me close and hugged me, and tears filled my eyes again. "I'm so sorry that happened, baby girl, I really am," He rubbed my back.

I looked around- we were in an alcove of a waiting area. "Where's Uncle Sam?"

"They left already," Daddy said, "You can ride with me."

Cara was asleep on the sofa when we walked into the living room, the bunny and the blanket from the car in her arms. Macy was in the kitchen eating ice cream with Uncle Sam. Her eyes were damp and her face was red but she looked calm. She was holding the bear in her lap.

Uncle Sam handed me a container. "We stopped at McDonald's for a treat, I got you a sundae too."

"Thanks!" I sat down next to Macy and started to eat.

Grandpa John walked in. "The sleeping bags are set up on the floor of Charlie's room."

"Sleeping bags?" I asked.

"We thought the girls should sleep in your room," Uncle Sam stood up. "I guess one of us should get Cara changed. Uhh, how do we, uh, do that?"

Daddy rolled his eyes. "That's right, Sam's the only one here who hasn't had any experience dressing a little kid."

"I'll do it," Grandpa John said, and left the room. He came back a moment later, looking confused. He held up a sleep diaper. "Uh, I assume this is the diaper she wears to bed, but- how do I open it?"

Daddy reached for it and turned it over. "It looks like it's all one piece- wait, it's got these strips of tape up the sides-"

"Cara steps into 'em like underpanties," Macy said.

"Oh, okay," Daddy looked relieved.

Grandpa John left again, and I finished my sundae.

"Well, I guess you girls should get to bed too," Daddy said. Macy got off of her chair, and followed me upstairs to my room.

There was a pile of thick blankets on the floor next to my bed with a sleeping bag opened up on top, and Cara was laying down on it, with a sleeping bag draped over her.

Macy and I brushed our teeth and got changed into nightgowns.

"Can I sleep with you?" she asked me shyly.

"Um, okay," I agreed.

She pulled a couple of books out of the duffle bag that Daddy had brought into the bedroom. "We read these at bedtime." She looked up. "Can Unca read them?"

"Oh, uhh, okay," Sam came over to the bed. He sat down against the headboard and Macy and I sat on either side of him.

"Daddy, come sit on the bed," I called, and he came over and sat on the foot of the bed.

There was a picture book about all the animals on a farm going to sleep at night, and then another picture book about a giant red dog, and a book about a frog and a toad who had adventures.

Macy was yawning by the time Uncle Sam had finished the third book.

"You gonna have enough room?" Daddy asked, as Uncle Sam got up. Macy and I scootched down under the covers.

"Yeah," I mumbled sleepily. I didn't mind having her in bed with me.

Daddy and then Uncle Sam and Grandpa John all leaned down to hug and kiss both of us.

"You were very brave today, I'm proud of both of you," Grandpa John said to us.

I hugged my stuffed cat to my chest, and fell asleep.

When I woke up, I felt someone laying on me. I opened my eyes- Cara was in bed next to me, curled up with her head on my shoulder and her leg on my hip. Then I noticed I felt wetness on my leg.

I felt motion and turned my head. Macy was on the other side of me, and she was sitting up and looking around.

"Oh no!" she gasped, "I—I peed the bed!" She burst into tears.


End file.
